MHC antigens and haemopoiesis

The importance of MHC class II in allogeneic bone marrow transplantation and chimerism-based solid organ tolerance in a rat model

Mixed hematopoietic chimerism enables donor-specific tolerance for solid organ grafts. This study evaluated the influence of different serological major histocompatibility complex disparities on chimerism development, graft-versus-host disease incidence and subsequently on solid organ tolerance in a rat model. For bone marrow transplantation conditioning total body irradiation was titrated using 10, 8 or 6 Gray. Bone marrow transplantation was performed across following major histocompatibility complex mismatched barriers: complete disparity, MHC class II, MHC class I or non-MHC mismatch. Recipients were clinically monitored for graft-versus-host disease and analyzed for chimerism using flow cytometry. After a reconstitution of 100 days, composition of peripheral leukocytes was determined. Mixed chimeras were challenged with heart grafts from allogeneic donor strains to define the impact of donor MHC class disparities on solid organ tolerance on the basis of stable chimerism. After myeloablation with 10 Gray of total body irradiation, chimerism after bone marrow transplantation was induced independent of MHC disparity. MHC class II disparity increased the incidence of graft-versus-host disease and reduced induction of stable chimerism upon myelosuppressive total body irradiation with 8 and 6 Gray, respectively. Stable mixed chimeras showed tolerance towards heart grafts from donors with MHC matched to either bone marrow donors or recipients. Isolated matching of MHC class II with bone marrow donors likewise led to stable tolerance as opposed to matching of MHC class I. In summary, MHC class II disparity was critically associated with the onset of graft-versus host disease and was identified as obstacle for successful development of chimerism after bone marrow transplantation and subsequent donor-specific solid organ tolerance.

Lineage-negative side-population (SP) cells with restricted hematopoietic capacity circulate in normal human adult blood: immunophenotypic and functional characterization

Side-population (SP) cells are a recently described rare cell population detected in selected tissues of various mammalian species, but not yet described in the peripheral circulation. In the present study, we have identified for the first time SP cells in lineage-negative adult human blood and have provided an extensive functional and immunophenotypic characterization of these cells. Adult peripheral blood was depleted of mature leukocyte cell types by density gradient and immunomagnetic separation. The SP cell population was identified by its characteristic Hoechst 33342 profile. Immunophenotypic analysis revealed that blood SP cells expressed high levels of CD45, CD59, CD43, CD49d, CD31, and integrin markers and lacked CD34. Highly purified SP cells were put into cobblestone area-forming cell (CAFC), long-term culture-initiating cell (LTC-IC), and liquid cell culture assays; repopulating assays were performed utilizing nonobese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficient mice. Circulating SP cells were shown to exhibit verapamil sensitivity and a low growth rate. LTC-IC, CAFC, and engraftment assays indicated that circulating SP cells had lost the multipotentiality described in murine bone marrow SP cells. However, outgrowth of mature cell types from liquid cell culture suggests the presence of common lymphoid (T and natural killer) and dendritic cell precursor(s) within circulating SP cell populations. The absence of SP cell growth in the LTC-IC, CAFC, and repopulating assays might be intrinsic to the tissue source (marrow versus blood) or species (mouse versus human) tested. Thus, human blood SP cells, although rare, may serve as a source of selected leukocyte progenitor cells. The immunophenotype of circulating SP cells may provide clues to their seeding and homing capacity.

Major histocompatibility complex restriction between hematopoietic stem cells and stromal cells in vitro

We have previously found that a significant number of hematopoietic progenitors accumulate in engrafted bones with the same major histocompatibility complex (MHC) as the transplanted bone marrow cells. In the present study, to further clarify the MHC restriction between hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) and microenvironment, we carried out cobblestone colony formation assays by culturing HSCs with MHC-matched or -mismatched stromal cell monolayers. The formation of cobblestone colonies under MHC-mismatched stromal cells significantly decreased in comparison with MHC-matched stromal cells. However, the decrease in cobblestone colony formation under MHC-mismatched stromal cells was not significant when using MHC class I-deficient HSC or stromal cells. Taken together with the results using B10 congenic strains, it is suggested that the MHC preference is restricted by MHC class Ia molecules. Treatment with monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against MHC class Ia molecules of stromal cell phenotypes significantly enhanced the cobblestone colony formation, whereas treatment with mAbs against HSC phenotypes significantly inhibited it. The expression of cytokines to promote hematopoiesis was enhanced by the mAbs against stromal cell phenotypes. The enhancement of cytokine expression was also observed when stromal cells and HSCs were MHC-matched. These results suggest that signaling via the MHC molecules augments stromal cell activity and elicits the MHC restriction.