Acceptance of murine thyroid allografts by pretreatment of anti-Ia antibody or anti-dendritic cell antibody in vitro.

A new method for thyroid allografts in mice was established. Thyroids of C67BL/6J mice were treated with collagenase, and the follicles were isolated using a Percoll density gradient technique. These follicles were treated with anti-Ia antibody (Ab) or anti-DC Ab plus complement in order to eliminate DCs. The follicles were then mixed with agarose and transplanted under the left renal capsule of BALB/c mice. One hundred days after transplantation, acceptance of the grafts was verified by both histological study and the incorporation of 125I into the grafts. Allografts treated with C were rejected, whereas allografts treated with Ab plus C were accepted. When nontreated thyroids of C57BL/6J mice were grafted under the right renal capsule of BALB/c mice that had accepted DC-depleted thyroids of C57BL/6J mice, the nontreated thyroids were rejected. These findings indicate that DCs play a crucial role in the rejection of mouse thyroid allografts, and that the depletion of DCs permits allografts to be accepted without inducing donor-specific tolerance. Our method presented here may be developed as a viable strategy for the treatment of patients with congenital or acquired hypothyroidism.