Repopulation of donor heart by recipient bone marrow-derived dendritic cells prior to transplantation causes acute rejection by both the allogeneic and syngeneic recipient.

Experimental studies on allogeneic transplantation have shown that recipient dendritic cells (DC) play a role in peripheral tolerance as well as in rejection of allografts. It is not known whether DC exert their tolerogenic function in recipient lymphoid tissue, and whether they process shed alloantigen in the graft itself. To answer this question we created a chimeric heart model deprived of its own DC and repopulated by recipient DC. The rationale for this model was to observe whether recipient DC located in the graft attenuate recruitment and stimulation of recipient lymphocytes, subsequently prolonging graft survival. Vascularized bone marrow transplants (VBMTx) from the prospective recipient to the lethally irradiated heart donor, which function for a period of 14 days, were used to replace donor DC with prospective recipient DC. Hearts from chimeric LEW rats (with BN DC) were transplanted to untreated BN rats. Also, hearts from chimeric LEW rats (with BN DC) were returned to untreated LEW rats. Replacement of the donor heart with recipient DC did not prolong graft survival. Rather, it initiated a rejection reaction that was already present in the donor. Recipient DC retained their immunogenic properties also when the graft was returned back to a donor strain animal.