Leukocyte accumulation in graft blood vessels during self-limiting acute rejection of rat kidneys Immunobiology

Acute rejection episodes trigger chronic renal allograft vasculopathy. Numerous leukocytes, predominantly monocytes, accumulate in graft blood vessels during reversible acute rejection preceding chronic rejection of rat kidneys. We speculate that they contribute to transplant vasculopathy and set out to characterize them. Allogeneic renal transplantation was performed in the Fischer 344 to Lewis rat strain combination, Lewis isografts served as controls. Leukocytes were harvested by intensive perfusion of graft blood vessels and subjected to flow cytometry, quantitative RT-PCR and genome-wide transcriptional profiling.急性排斥反应发作可诱发慢性肾移植血管病。在大鼠肾脏慢性排斥反应发生前的可逆性急性排斥反应阶段，移植血管内会积聚大量以单核细胞为主的白细胞。我们推测此类细胞参与移植血管病的发生，并着手对其进行特征分析。本研究采用Fischer 344至Lewis大鼠品系组合开展同种异体肾移植，以Lewis同基因移植作为对照。通过对移植血管进行强力灌流收集白细胞，并对其实施流式细胞术、定量逆转录聚合酶链反应（quantitative RT-PCR）以及全基因组转录组分析。