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Updated: Aug 9, 2026
Transplantation of Tail Skin to Study Allogeneic CD4 T Cell Responses in Mice
Published on: July 25, 2014
Local secretion of a chimeric anti-CD4 antibody protects against graft rejection in the NOD mouse
A W McKenzie1, J L Brady, R M Martin
1Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Background:
Engineering a graft to secrete its own immunosuppressive antibodies may minimize the risks associated with current high dose systemic immunosuppression.
Methods And Results:
A beta cell insulinoma cell line (NIT-1) was transfected with genes encoding a chimeric anti-CD4 antibody. The NIT-1 cells secreted functional chimeric anti-CD4 antibody that bound to the CD4 molecule on mouse thymocytes and inhibited in vitro proliferation of CD4+ve T cells. Both test and control transfected cell lines grew at a similar rate in immunodeficient mice. In immunocompetent NOD mice, NIT-1 cells are normally rejected by a cellular immune response against the SV40 T antigen. Although control transfected NIT-1 cells were rapidly rejected by NOD mice, anti-CD4 secreting NIT-1 cells grew significantly better and were able to form tumors at the site of injection.
Conclusions:
The local secretion of chimeric anti-CD4 antibody from transfected cells can contribute to graft survival in our transplantation model.
