Bcl-2 transduction protects human endothelial cell synthetic microvessel grafts from allogeneic T cells in vivo

L Zheng, TF Gibson, JS Schechner… - The Journal of …, 2004 - journals.aai.org
L Zheng, TF Gibson, JS Schechner, JS Pober, ALM Bothwell
The Journal of Immunology, 2004journals.aai.org
T cell interactions with vascular endothelial cells (EC) are of central importance for immune
surveillance of microbes and for pathological processes such as atherosclerosis, allograft
rejection, and vasculitis. Animal (especially rodent) models incompletely predict human
immune responses, in particular with regard to the immunological functions of EC, and in
vitro models may not accurately reflect in vivo findings. In this study, we describe the
development of an immunodeficient SCID/bg murine model combining a transplanted …
Abstract
T cell interactions with vascular endothelial cells (EC) are of central importance for immune surveillance of microbes and for pathological processes such as atherosclerosis, allograft rejection, and vasculitis. Animal (especially rodent) models incompletely predict human immune responses, in particular with regard to the immunological functions of EC, and in vitro models may not accurately reflect in vivo findings. In this study, we describe the development of an immunodeficient SCID/bg murine model combining a transplanted human synthetic microvascular bed with adoptive transfer of human T lymphocytes allogeneic to the cells of the graft that more fully recapitulates T cell responses in natural tissues. Using this model, we demonstrate that transduced Bcl-2 protein in the engrafted EC effectively prevents injury even as it enhances T cell graft infiltration and replication.
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