Studies on the behavior of H-Y incompatible skin grafts in rats.

Studies on the behavior of H-Y incompatible skin grafts in rats indicate that 1) there is considerable variation in the ability of females of different strains to reject male skin isografts; 2) small, male trunk skin isografts are more likely to be rejected than similarly sized ear or tail skin grafts; 3) other factors besides the MHC plan an important role in determining the ability of females to reject male skin isografts; 4) the ability of adult male skin grafts to induce unresponsiveness to H-Y depends upon their size (large grafts are more effective than small) and the genotype of the host; 5) even in those strains in which females usually accept small, male trunk skin isografts, such grafts are acutely rejected by sensitized females; and 6) the total amount of H-Y incompatible trunk skin the host is exposed to, rather than the size of each graft, determines their fate.