Keratinocyte Antiviral Response to Poly(dA:dT) Stimulation and Papillomavirus Infection in a Canine Model of X-Linked Severe Combined Immunodeficiency

X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (XSCID) is caused by a genetic mutation within the common gamma chain (γ_c), an essential component of the cytokine receptors for interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, IL-7, IL-9, IL-15, and IL-21. XSCID patients are most commonly treated with bone marrow transplants (BMT) to restore systemic immune function. However, BMT-XSCID humans and dogs remain at an increased risk for development of cutaneous papillomavirus (PV) infections and their associated neoplasms, most typically cutaneous papillomas. Since basal keratinocytes are the target cell for the initial PV infection, we wanted to determine if canine XSCID keratinocytes have a diminished antiviral cytokine response to poly(dA:dT) and canine papillomavirus-2 (CPV-2) upon initial infection. We performed quantitative RT-PCR for antiviral cytokines and downstream interferon stimulated genes (ISG) on poly(dA:dT) stimulated and CPV-2 infected monolayer keratinocyte cultures derived from XSCID and normal control dogs. We found that XSCID keratinocytes responded similarly to poly(dA:dT) as normal keratinocytes by upregulating antiviral cytokines and ISGs. CPV-2 infection of both XSCID and normal keratinocytes did not result in upregulation of antiviral cytokines or ISGs at 2, 4, or 6 days post infection. These data suggest that the antiviral response to initial PV infection of basal keratinocytes is similar between XSCID and normal patients, and is not the likely source for the remaining immunodeficiency in XSCID patients.     

Sporadic naturally occurring melanoma in dogs as a preclinical model for human melanoma

Melanoma represents a significant malignancy in humans and dogs. Different from genetically engineered models, sporadic canine melanocytic neoplasms share several characteristics with human disease that could make dogs a more relevant preclinical model. Canine melanomas rarely arise in sun‐exposed sites. Most occur in the oral cavity, with a subset having intra‐epithelial malignant melanocytes mimicking the in situ component of human mucosal melanoma. The spectrum of canine melanocytic neoplasia includes benign lesions with some analogy to nevi, as well as invasive primary melanoma, and widespread metastasis. Growing evidence of distinct subtypes in humans, differing in somatic and predisposing germ‐line genetic alterations, cell of origin, epidemiology, relationship to ultraviolet radiation and progression from benign to malignant tumors, may also exist in dogs. Canine and human mucosal melanomas appear to harbor BRAF, NRAS, and c‐kit mutations uncommonly, compared with human cutaneous melanomas, although both species share AKT and MAPK signaling activation. We conclude that there is significant overlap in the clinical and histopathological features of canine and human mucosal melanomas. This represents opportunity to explore canine oral cavity melanoma as a preclinical model.     

Intracoronary allogeneic cardiosphere‐derived stem cells are safe for use in dogs with dilated cardiomyopathy

Cardiosphere‐derived cells (CDCs) have been shown to reduce scar size and increase viable myocardium in human patients with mild/moderate myocardial infarction. Studies in rodent models suggest that CDC therapy may confer therapeutic benefits in patients with non‐ischaemic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). We sought to determine the safety and efficacy of allogeneic CDC in a large animal (canine) model of spontaneous DCM. Canine CDCs (cCDCs) were grown from a donor dog heart. Similar to human CDCs, cCDCs express CD105 and are slightly positive for c‐kit and CD90. Thirty million of allogeneic cCDCs was infused into the coronary vessels of Doberman pinscher dogs with spontaneous DCM. Adverse events were closely monitored, and cardiac functions were measured by echocardiography. No adverse events occurred during and after cell infusion. Histology on dog hearts (after natural death) revealed no sign of immune rejection from the transplanted cells.     

Interleukin 2 regulation following semi-allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in mice

Success of allogeneic and autologous bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is hampered by susceptibility to infection during the first two post-treatment years. Further, in treating malignant diseases, impaired anti-host reactivity for donor cells may contribute to a high rate of relapse. Both complications are a consequence of immune deficiency involving B and T lymphocytes. The present study evaluates several key parameters of the immunologic reconstitution mechanism in mice subjected to myeloablative total body irradiation following semi-allogeneic (parental) BMT. This resulted in a gradual reduction of splenic CD3, CD4 and CD8 cells until day 45 post-BMT. Concomitantly, there was an increase in monocytes and CD4⁺/CD8⁺ (double positive) cells, accompanied by a persistent elevation in the percentage of B lymphocytes. The total thymic and splenic T cell populations were reduced until day +30. The cellular reduction correlated with the poor proliferative response of the thymic and splenic cells. A decrease occurred in IL-2 mRNA expression in thymic cells during days 15–20 post-transplant, corresponding with the low level of IL-2 secretion in the spleen and thymus of the transplanted mice. In conclusion, following semi-allogeneic BMT, there was an overall immune down-regulation in the cells, gene and protein levels. Reduced immunological responsiveness following BMT reinforces the need for improving the immune dysfunction by immunotherapy post-BMT.     

Studies of respiratory disease in random-source laboratory dogs: viral infections in unconditioned dogs.

A prospective study was conducted to identify the viruses causing respiratory diseases in unconditioned, random-source dogs. During the quarantine period, respiratory disease occurred in 86 of 167 (52%) dogs, and 34 (21%) died. Most affected dogs had a distemper-like illness which required extensive and prolonged care. Histopathologic studies confirmed the diagnosis of canine distemper in 10 of 12 (83%) fatal infections examined. Sixty-seven of 91 (74%) dogs which arrived without canine distemper antibody became ill, and 30 (32%) died. In contrast, only 16 of 67 (24%) dogs with canine distemper antibody had respiratory disease, and only 3 (4%) died. Parainfluenza SV5 and canine adenovirus--type II were recovered from 27 of 54 and 22 of 54 sick dogs, respectively. Canine herpesviruses, canine coronaviruses, and canine parvoviruses were less frequently isolated. Increased antibody titers to SV5 were found consistently, and rises in titer to the other viruses were demonstrated. Many of the sick dogs were infected with two or more viruses. Although several viral agents were detected during these epizootics, prevention of canine distemper appeared to be the key to controlling severe, prolonged, and often fatal respiratory disease.     

Comparative Gene Expression Analyses Identify Luminal and Basal Subtypes of Canine Invasive Urothelial Carcinoma That Mimic Patterns in Human Invasive Bladder Cancer

More than 160,000 people are expected to die from invasive urothelial carcinoma (iUC) this year worldwide. Research in relevant animal models is essential to improving iUC management. Naturally-occurring canine iUC closely resembles human iUC in histopathology, metastatic behavior, and treatment response, and could provide a relevant model for human iUC. The molecular characterization of canine iUC, however, has been limited. Work was conducted to compare gene expression array results between tissue samples from iUC and normal bladder in dogs, with comparison to similar expression array data from human iUC and normal bladder in the literature. Considerable similarities between enrichment patterns of genes in canine and human iUC were observed. These included patterns mirroring basal and luminal subtypes initially observed in human breast cancer and more recently noted in human iUC. Canine iUC samples also exhibited enrichment for genes involved in P53 pathways, as has been reported in human iUC. This is particularly relevant as drugs targeting these genes/pathways in other cancers could be repurposed to treat iUC, with dogs providing a model to optimize therapy. As part of the validation of the results and proof of principal for evaluating individualized targeted therapy, the overexpression of EGFR in canine bladder iUC was confirmed. The similarities in gene expression patterns between dogs and humans add considerably to the value of naturally-occurring canine iUC as a relevant and much needed animal model for human iUC. Furthermore, the finding of expression patterns that cross different pathologically-defined cancers could allow studies of dogs with iUC to help optimize cancer management across multiple cancer types. The work is also expected to lead to a better understanding of the biological importance of the gene expression patterns, and the potential application of the cross-species comparisons approach to other cancer types as well.     

Transplantation and differentiation of donor cells in the cloned pigs

The application of nuclear transfer technology is an interesting approach to investigate stem and progenitor cell transplantation therapy. If stem cells are used as a nuclear donor, donor cells can engraft into cloned animals without histocompatible problems. However, it is still uncertain whether donor cells can engraft to cloned animal and differentiate in vivo. To address this problem, we transplanted donor cells to dermal tissues of cloned pigs developed by using preadipocytes as donor cells. Preadipocytes are adipocytic progenitor which can differentiate to mature adipocytes in vitro. We showed that the donor preadipocytes were successfully transplanted into the cloned pigs without immune rejection and they differentiated into mature adipocytes in vivo 3 weeks after transplantation. In contrast, allogenic control preadipocytes, which can differentiate in vitro, did not differentiate in vivo. These results indicate that donor progenitor cells can differentiate in cloned animal.     

Systemic candidiasis in farm-reared red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa) caused by Leucosporidium spp

Background

Canine noroviruses (NoVs) have been recently described in south European countries and associated with outbreaks of diarrhea in kennels. Unlike human NoV which are known as an important cause of acute gastroenteritis, little is known about the role of canine NoV as pathogens in dogs as well as its epidemiological features.

Results

From 2007?C2011, 256 stool samples were collected from dogs across Portugal and tested by RT-PCR for canine NoV. Viral fecal shedding was found to be 23% (60/256). All sequences contained the GLPSG amino acid motif characteristic of the RNA-dependent RNA-polymerase gene of NoVs and had a high nucleotide identity (range 98%?C100%) to the canine NoV first described in Portugal. The highest shedding rate was detected during the winter months.

Conclusions

This study shows that canine NoV infection is endemic in the dog population of Portugal. Peak shedding was detected in the winter months, a well-known epidemiologic feature of human NoV infections.     

An autologous dendritic cell canine mammary tumor hybrid-cell fusion vaccine

Mammary cancer is among the most prevalent canine tumors and frequently resulting in death due to metastatic disease that is highly homologous to human breast cancer. Most canine tumors fail to raise effective immune reactions yet, some spontaneous remissions do occur. Hybrid canine dendritic cell–tumor cell fusion vaccines were designed to enhance antigen presentation and tumor immune recognition. Peripheral blood-derived autologous dendritic cell enriched populations were isolated from dogs based on CD11c⁺ expression and fused with canine mammary tumor (CMT) cells for vaccination of laboratory Beagles. These hybrid cells were injected into popliteal lymph nodes of normal dogs, guided by ultrasound, and included CpG-oligonucleotide adjuvants. Three rounds of vaccination were delivered. Significant IgG responses were observed in all vaccinated dogs compared to vehicle-injected controls. Canine IgG antibodies recognized shared CMT antigens as was demonstrated by IgG-recognition of three unrelated/independently derived CMT cell lines, and recognition of freshly isolated, unrelated, primary biopsy-derived CMT cells. A bias toward an IgG2 isotype response was observed after two vaccinations in most dogs. Neither significant cytotoxic T cell responses were detected, nor adverse or side-effects due to vaccination or due to the induced immune responses noted. These data provide proof-of-principle for this cancer vaccine strategy and demonstrate the presence of shared CMT antigens that promote immune recognition of mammary cancer.     

Cardiac regenerative potential of cardiosphere‐derived cells from adult dog hearts

The regenerative potential of cardiosphere‐derived cells (CDCs) for ischaemic heart disease has been demonstrated in mice, rats, pigs and a recently completed clinical trial. The regenerative potential of CDCs from dog hearts has yet to be tested. Here, we show that canine CDCs can be produced from adult dog hearts. These cells display similar phenotypes in comparison to previously studied CDCs derived from rodents and human beings. Canine CDCs can differentiate into cardiomyocytes, smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells in vitro. In addition, conditioned media from canine CDCs promote angiogenesis but inhibit cardiomyocyte death. In a doxorubicin‐induced mouse model of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), intravenous infusion of canine CDCs improves cardiac function and decreases cardiac fibrosis. Histology revealed that injected canine CDCs engraft in the mouse heart and increase capillary density. Out study demonstrates the regenerative potential of canine CDCs in a mouse model of DCM.     

Feasibility of using gene expression analysis to study canine soft tissue sarcomas

The prognosis given for canine soft tissue sarcomas (STSs) is based primarily on histopathologic grade. The decision to administer adjuvant chemotherapy is difficult since less than half of patients with high-grade STSs develop metastatic disease. We hypothesize that there is a gene signature that will improve our ability to predict development of metastatic disease in STS patients. The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility of using cDNA microarray and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis to determine gene expression patterns in metastatic versus nonmetastatic canine STSs, given the inherent heterogeneity of this group of tumors. Five STSs from dogs with metastatic disease were evaluated in comparison to eight STSs from dogs without metastasis. Tumor RNA was extracted, processed, and labeled for application to the Affymetrix Canine Genechip 2.0 Array. Array fluorescence was normalized using D-Chip software and data analysis was performed with JMP/Genomics. Differential gene expression was validated using qRT-PCR. Over 200 genes were differentially expressed at a false discovery rate of 5%. Differential gene expression was validated for five genes upregulated in metastatic tumors. Quantitative RT-PCR confirmed increased relative expression of all five genes of interest in the metastatic STSs. Our results demonstrate that microarray and qRT-PCR are feasible methods for comparing gene signatures in canine STSs. Further evaluation of the differences between gene expression in metastatic STSs and in nonmetastatic STSs is likely to identify genes that are important in the development of metastatic disease and improve our ability to prognosticate for individual patients.     

Genome-wide association study in RPGRIP1(-/-) dogs identifies a modifier locus that determines the onset of retinal degeneration

Cone-rod dystrophy (CRD) is a form of inherited retinal degeneration (RD) causing blindness in man as well as in several breeds of dog. Previously, a 44 bp insertion in RPGRIP1 (retinitis pigmentosa GTPase regulator interacting protein-1) was associated with a recessive early-onset CRD (cone-rod dystrophy 1, cord1) in a Miniature longhaired dachshund (MLHD) research colony. Yet in the MLHD pet population, extensive range of the onset age has been observed among RD cases, with some RPGRIP1(-/-) dogs lacking obvious clinical signs. Phenotypic variation has been known in human homologous diseases, including retinitis pigmentosa and Leber congenital amaurosis, indicating possible involvement of modifiers. To explore additional genetic loci associated with the phenotypic variation observed in MLHDs, a genome-wide association study was carried out using Canine SNP20 arrays in 83 RPGRIP1(-/-) MLHDs with variable ages of onset or no clinical abnormality. Using these samples, comparison of 31 early-onset RD cases against 49 controls (15 late-onset RD and 34 normal dogs combined) identified a strong association (P = 5.05 × 10(-13)) at a single locus on canine chromosome 15. At this locus, the majority of early-onset RD cases but few of the controls were homozygous for a 1.49 Mb interval containing ~11 genes. We conclude that homozygosity at both RPGRIP1 and the newly mapped second locus is necessary to develop early-onset RD, whereas RPGRIP1(-/-) alone leads to late-onset RD or no apparent clinical phenotype. This study establishes a unique model of canine RD requiring homozygous mutations at two distinct genetic loci for the manifestation of early-onset RD.     

Paradoxical role of alveolar macrophage-derived granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor in pulmonary host defense post-bone marrow transplantation

Impaired host defense post-bone marrow transplant (BMT) is related to overproduction of prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) by alveolar macrophages (AMs). We show AMs post-BMT overproduce granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), whereas GM-CSF in lung homogenates is impaired both at baseline and in response to infection post-BMT. Homeostatic regulation of GM-CSF may occur by hematopoietic/structural cell cross talk. To determine whether AM overproduction of GM-CSF influenced immunosuppression post-BMT, we compared mice that received BMT from wild-type donors (control BMT) or mice that received BMT from GM-CSF-/- donors (GM-CSF-/- BMT) with untransplanted mice. GM-CSF-/- BMT mice were less susceptible to pneumonia with Pseudomonas aeruginosa compared with control BMT mice and showed antibacterial responses equal to or better than untransplanted mice. GM-CSF-/- BMT AMs displayed normal phagocytosis and a trend toward enhanced bacterial killing. Surprisingly, AMs from GM-CSF-/- BMT mice overproduced PGE(2), but expression of the inhibitory EP(2) receptor was diminished. As a consequence of decreased EP(2) receptor expression, we found diminished accumulation of cAMP in response to PGE(2) stimulation in GM-CSF-/- BMT AMs compared with control BMT AMs. In addition, GM-CSF-/- BMT AMs retained cysteinyl leukotriene production and normal TNF-alpha response compared with AMs from control BMT mice. GM-CSF-/- BMT neutrophils also showed improved bacterial killing. Although genetic ablation of GM-CSF in hematopoietic cells post-BMT improved host defense, transplantation of wild-type bone marrow into GM-CSF-/- recipients demonstrated that parenchymal cell-derived GM-CSF is necessary for effective innate immune responses post-BMT. These results highlight the complex regulation of GM-CSF and innate immunity post-BMT.     

Post-BMT lung injury occurs independently of the expression of CCL2 or its receptor, CCR2, on host cells

Idiopathic pneumonia syndrome (IPS) is a significant cause of mortality post-bone marrow transplant (BMT) in humans. In our murine model, lethal pre-BMT conditioning and allogeneic T cells result in the recruitment of host antigen-presenting cells (APC) and donor T cells into the lung post-BMT concomitant with development of severe lung dysfunction. CCL2 induction is found in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) before host monocyte influx. The major receptor for CCL2 is CCR2 present on monocytes; this interaction can play a crucial role in monocyte recruitment in inflammation. To determine whether blockade of the CCL2/CCR2 pathway could hinder host monocyte influx, lethally conditioned wild-type (WT), CCL2(-/-), or CCR2(-/-) mice were transplanted with allogeneic marrow and spleen cells. WT and (-/-) recipients exhibited equivalent lung dysfunction post-BMT. The frequencies of host macrophages as well as donor CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells in lungs post-BMT did not differ between WT and (-/-) recipients. However, the T cell dependency of the host CD11b(+) major histocompatibility complex class II(+) cell influx was lost in CCR2(-/-) recipients. In CCR2(-/-) mice, this influx was accompanied by elevated levels of CCL20. Post-BMT BALF and sera of (-/-) mice did not reveal any decrease in cytokines or chemokines compared with WT mice. CCL2(-/-) mice had a deficiency of CCL2 in their BALF and sera post-BMT, confirming our hypothesis that CCL2 is predominantly host derived. Therefore, IPS can occur independently of host expression of CCL2 or CCR2, and compensatory mechanisms exist for regulating APC recruitment into the lung during the early post-BMT period.     

BMI1 Is Expressed in Canine Osteosarcoma and Contributes to Cell Growth and Chemotherapy Resistance

BMI1, a stem cell factor and member of the polycomb group of genes, has been shown to contribute to growth and chemoresistance of several human malignancies including primary osteosarcoma (OSA). Naturally occurring OSA in the dog represents a large animal model of human OSA, however the potential role of BMI1 in canine primary and metastatic OSA has not been examined. Immunohistochemical staining of canine primary and metastatic OSA tumors revealed strong nuclear expression of BMI1. An identical staining pattern was found in both primary and metastatic human OSA tissues. Canine OSA cell lines (Abrams, Moresco, and D17) expressed high levels of BMI1 compared with canine osteoblasts and knockdown or inhibition of BMI1 by siRNA or by small molecule BMI1-inhibitor PTC-209 demonstrated a role for BMI1 in canine OSA cell growth and resistance to carboplatin and doxorubicin chemotherapy. These findings suggest that inhibition of BMI1 in primary or metastatic OSA may improve response to chemotherapy and that the dog may serve as a large animal model to evaluate such therapy.     

Characterization of a novel α-mannosidosis-causing mutation and its use in leukocyte genotyping after bone marrow transplantation

α-Mannosidosis is a lysosomal storage disorder caused by deficiency of lysosomal α-mannosidase (LAMAN). Major symptoms include mental retardation, skeletal changes and recurrent infections. Recently, a successful bone marrow transplantation (BMT) in an α-mannosidosis patient was reported. Here we show that this patient was homozygous for a novel mutation, a 1-bp insertion (1197–1198insA) in exon 9 of the LAMAN gene. By using this mutation as a marker, we demonstrate that 1 year post-BMT, the LAMAN genotype of the patient’s leukocytes was identical to that of the donor. This method of genotyping blood cells is a fast and accurate way to monitor the colonization of donor bone marrow cells. Received: 9 September 1998 / Accepted: 3 November 1998     

Fifty-four new gene-based canine microsatellite markers

Fifty-four new markers were developed to fill in gaps in the current map of canine microsatellites and to complement existing markers that may not be sufficiently informative in highly inbred canine pedigrees. Canine genes contained on the radiation hybrid map were used to obtain the sequence of the human homolog. A BLAST search versus the canine whole genome shotgun (wgs) sequence resource was used to obtain the sequence of the canine genomic contigs containing the homolog of the corresponding human gene. Canine sequences that contained microsatellites and mapped back to the correct location in the human genome were used to design primers for amplification of the microsatellites from canine genomic DNA. Heterozygosities of the markers were tested by genotyping grandparental DNAs obtained from the Nestle Purina Reference family DNA distribution center plus DNAs from unrelated Bouviers and Irish wolfhounds. Canine map positions of markers on the July 2004 freeze of the canine genome assembly were determined by in silico PCR or BLAST.     

Critical role of prostaglandin E2 overproduction in impaired pulmonary host response following bone marrow transplantation

The success of bone marrow transplantation (BMT) as a therapy for malignant and inherited disorders is limited by infectious complications. We previously demonstrated syngeneic BMT mice are more susceptible to Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia due to defects in the ability of donor-derived alveolar macrophages (AMs), but not polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs), to phagocytose bacteria. We now demonstrate that both donor-derived AMs and PMNs display bacterial killing defects post-BMT. PGE2 is a lipid mediator with potent immunosuppressive effects against antimicrobial functions. We hypothesize that enhanced PGE2 production post-BMT impairs host defense. We demonstrate that lung homogenates from BMT mice contain 2.8-fold more PGE2 than control mice, and alveolar epithelial cells (2.7-fold), AMs (125-fold), and PMNs (10-fold) from BMT animals all overproduce PGE2. AMs also produce increased prostacyclin (PGI2) post-BMT. Interestingly, the E prostanoid (EP) receptors EP2 and EP4 are elevated on donor-derived phagocytes post-BMT. Blocking PGE2 synthesis with indomethacin overcame the phagocytic and killing defects of BMT AMs and the killing defects of BMT PMNs in vitro. The effect of indomethacin on AM phagocytosis could be mimicked by an EP2 antagonist, AH-6809, and exogenous addition of PGE2 reversed the beneficial effects of indomethacin in vitro. Importantly, in vivo treatment with indomethacin reduced PGE2 levels in lung homogenates and restored in vivo bacterial clearance from the lung and blood in BMT mice. Genetic reduction of cyclooxygenase-2 in BMT mice also had similar effects. These data clearly demonstrate that overproduction of PGE2 post-BMT is a critical factor determining impaired host defense against pathogens.     

Development of a single probe for documentation of chimerism following bone marrow transplantation.

Although numerous genetic markers are available for studying chimerism after bone marrow transplantation (BMT), there remains a need for a practical and highly informative method that is applicable in the early posttransplantation period. Using DNA restriction-fragment-length polymorphisms (RFLPs), we have evaluated the feasibility of developing a single synthetic oligonucleotide probe to study post-BMT chimerism. We have thus tested three candidate probes, termed O-3315-32, O-3315-80, and O-AY-29, that are homologous to tandemly repetitive sequences. Our results demonstrated donor-specific and recipient-specific fragments in 11 of 11 HLA-matched sibling pairs tested using probes O-3315-32 and O-3315-80. When probe O-AY-29 was used, 14 of 17 sibling pairs showed both donor and recipient markers, one had only a recipient marker, and two were identical. We showed that each of the three synthetic probes was effective in documenting donor marrow engraftment, mixed hematopoietic chimerism, the patient's pre-BMT phenotype (by using cultured skin fibroblasts obtained after BMT), and the origin of the malignant hematopoietic cells (i.e., of donor or recipient origin) in patients who developed recurrent hematologic malignancy following BMT. Compared with the use of cloned genomic probes, there are several important advantages to the use of synthetic oligonucleotide probes in studying post-BMT chimerism. Synthetic probes have absolute hybridization specificity and can be designed to suit the purposes of an individual study, since they have adjustable specificity that can be altered by changes in the length of the probe and by changes in the hybridization temperature. A single synthetic probe analogous to several highly polymorphic loci can have a polymorphism information content sufficiently high so that all but a small percentage of BMT patients could be followed easily; for example, if a probe were complementary to three highly polymorphic unlinked loci, it would discriminate approximately 98% of sibling donor/recipient pairs. This would be accomplished using only one restriction-endonuclease digestion and only one gel electrophoresis. Since other genetic markers, e.g., red blood cell antigens, immunoglobulin allotypes, and chromosome analysis, are not uniformly informative and, in some cases, cannot be used in the early posttransplantation period, the use of synthetic oligonucleotide probes for analysis of DNA RFLP is emerging as the method of choice for studies of post-BMT chimerism. This method will allow for the development of new knowledge that has not been possible with previous methods.     

Ex vivo rapamycin generates donor Th2 cells that potently inhibit graft-versus-host disease and graft-versus-tumor effects via an IL-4-dependent mechanism

Rapamycin (sirolimus) inhibits graft-vs-host disease (GVHD) and polarizes T cells toward Th2 cytokine secretion after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Therefore, we reasoned that ex vivo rapamycin might enhance the generation of donor Th2 cells capable of preventing GVHD after fully MHC-disparate murine BMT. Using anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 costimulation, CD4+ Th2 cell expansion was preserved partially in high-dose rapamycin (10 microM; Th2.rapa cells). Th2.rapa cells secreted IL-4 yet had reduced IL-5, IL-10, and IL-13 secretion relative to control Th2 cells. BMT cohorts receiving wild-type (WT) Th2.rapa cells, but not Th2.rapa cells generated from IL-4-deficient (knockout) donors, had marked Th2 skewing post-BMT and greatly reduced donor anti-host T cell alloreactivity. Histologic studies demonstrated that Th2.rapa cell recipients had near complete abrogation of skin, liver, and gut GVHD. Overall survival in recipients of WT Th2.rapa cells, but not IL-4 knockout Th2.rapa cells, was constrained due to marked attenuation of an allogeneic graft-vs-tumor (GVT) effect against host-type breast cancer cells. Delay in Th2.rapa cell administration until day 4, 7, or 14 post-BMT enhanced GVT effects, moderated GVHD, and improved overall survival. Therefore, ex vivo rapamycin generates enhanced donor Th2 cells for attempts to balance GVHD and GVT effects.