Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 26, 2026
Mouse Kidney Transplantation: Models of Allograft Rejection
Published on: October 11, 2014
Patterns of IgG subclass deposits in membranous glomerulonephritis in renal allografts
N Kearney1, J Podolak, L Matsumura
1School of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon 97239, USA.
Background:
Membranous glomerulonephritis (MGN) may develop in the renal allograft either de novo or as a recurrence. These 2 forms of MGN may have different pathogenic mechanisms, with different IgG subclass profiles in the immune deposits. This study examined IgG subclass distributions in recurrent and de novo MGN in allograft kidneys.
Methods:
We identified allograft kidneys with MGN, including 7 with recurrent MGN, 2 with de novo MGN, and 2 atypical/indeterminate, and determined the relative intensity of IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, and IgG4 staining in capillary wall deposits by immunofluorescence microscopy.
Results:
IgG4 was the dominant or codominant IgG subclass in capillary loop deposits in all 7 cases of recurrent MGN. IgG1 staining was dominant in 3 of 4 de novo or atypical MGN cases and codominant with IgG4 in the fourth.
Conclusions:
Although pretransplantation kidney biopsies were not available for comparisons, these findings suggest that all allograft recurrences represent idiopathic MGN and that de novo MGN cases had a different pathogenic mechanism.
Related Concept Videos
01:24Nephrotic Syndrome I : Introduction
01:20Renal Corpuscle
Glomerulus: Structure and Function
The glomerulus is a tiny, intricate network of capillaries located at the beginning of the nephron. It's enveloped by the Bowman's capsule and receives its blood supply from an afferent arteriole, which divides into numerous capillaries...
01:15Transcytosis of IgG
IgG molecules from a mother undergo transcytosis starting around 13 weeks of gestation. The amount of IgG transferred and entering the fetal blood circulation increases with...