The relative roles of MHC and non-MHC antigens in bone marrow transplantation in rats. Graft acceptance and antigenic expression on donor red blood cells.

In order to investigate the influence of MHC and non-MHC genes in bone marrow transplantation, various combinations of congenic and inbred strains of rats were used as donors and recipients. A standard regimen of busulfan and cyclophosphamide treatment was used to condition the recipients. The resultant survival patterns of the animals indicated that: (1) a difference across the entire RT1 (MHC) complex is sufficient for the induction of fatal graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in 100% of the engrafted animals; and (2) the blood group antigens RT2 and RT3, which are controlled by non-MHC genes, do not cause bone marrow graft rejection or GVHD. There were sequential changes of expression in surface alloantigens on the red cells in different donor-recipient combinations without other hematologic changes in the busulfan-cyclophosphamide conditioned bone marrow chimeras.