Induction of anterior chamber-associated immune deviation with lymphoreticular allogeneic cells

Immune privilege in the anterior chamber of the eye results in part from a selective deficit in delayed hypersensitivity that is elicited by antigenic materials placed in this unique tissue site. This stereo-typical systemic immune response (anterior chamber-associated immune deviation [ACAID]) to intraocular antigen can also be evoked in naive mice by the intravenous injection of syngeneic peritoneal exudate cells (PEC) that have been incubated overnight with a soluble antigen in the presence of supernatants of cultured iris and ciliary body (I/CB) cells or with transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta. To determine whether a similar protocol could be used to induce ACAID to transplantation antigens expressed on allogeneic PEC, we conducted experiments with allodisparate PEC donors and recipients selected to differ at loci dictating MHC and/or minor histocompatibility antigen. Recipients of I/CB supernatant-treated PEC from donors disparate for class I and/or class II antigens, as well as donors disparate only for minor H antigens, were specifically unable to display donor-specific delayed hypersensitivity, whereas recipients of PBS-treated allogeneic PEC developed intense donor-specific delayed hypersensitivity. We conclude that allogeneic PEC that have been cultured with I/CB supernatant overnight create an alloantigen-specific ACAID-inducing signal that confers ACAID on naive recipient mice.