Modification of allograft immunogenicity in perinatal islets isolated and purified in vitro

Perinatal rat islets of Langerhans, isolated and cultured in vitro, were examined following long-term allotransplantation across a major histocompatibility barrier in nonimmunosuppressed recipients. Islets were isolated to varying degrees of purity without the use of collagenase digestion. Newborn bovine serum was a component of the incubation medium and the atmosphere during culture was air: 5% CO2. Islets transplanted without rigorous purification were fully rejected by 14 days posttransplantation. However, if islets were maintained in subculture, permitting their subsequent meticulous purification, no evidence of rejection was observed after 45 days at the kidney subcapsular site. Grafts consisted of morphologically intact islets. The three major endocrine cell types of the islet were identified by immunocytochemical localization of insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin. These results demonstrate that perinatal islets can exhibit altered immunogenicity, as evidenced by prolonged allograft survival, when isolated and purified by the nonenzymic in vitro method.