Tissue graft rejection in murine models of autoimmune disease

Syngeneic grafts of liver tissue slices are accepted by normal murine recipients except in the case of male to female grafts in strains which carry the H-2b haplotype. In mouse strains which are known models of autoimmune disease, liver tissue slices are sometimes rejected even when donors and recipients are of the same sex. Although New Zealand Black (NZB) male liver tissue grafts survive in NZB males, female liver tissue grafts are rejected by NZB females. NZB females in which the mouse's own liver has been surgically traumatized accept female liver tissue grafts. In PN females, liver tissue grafts from syngeneic females proliferate. Male to male and male to female grafts show high levels of immunological activity although mostly surviving at 70 days after grafting. MRL male to male, BXSB female to female and NZB male to female grafts all proliferate. Mouse models of autoimmune disease show patterns of liver tissue graft survival which are different from those seen in non-autoimmune mice. These patterns vary among autoimmune strains. Males and females have different antigraft response as well as different cellular lesions controlling their autoimmune disease.