Cellular mechanisms of adaptation of grafts to antibody.

New, more effective, strategies of immunosuppression, including those recently designed to induce durable T cell tolerance (by grafting allogeneic or xenogeneic haematopoietic cells into T lymphocyte-depleted recipients), leave humoral rejection as the main barrier to transplantation of vascularized organs between different species. Recent experimental work indicates that hyperacute rejection can be prevented by manipulations of antibodies and complement. In this paper, we review the mechanisms governing the interaction of antibodies with cell surface antigens in vitro and in vivo, and their cellular consequences. Evidence is presented that, in appropriate conditions, antibodies can protect by effecting modification of graft antigenicity (adaptation or accommodation).