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Ajith A, Mulloy LL, Musa MA, Bravo-Egana V, Horuzsko DD, Gani I, Horuzsko A. Humanized Mouse Model as a Novel Approach in the Assessment of Human Allogeneic Responses in Organ Transplantation. Front Immunol 2021; 12:687715. [PMID: 34177940 PMCID: PMC8226140 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.687715] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2021] [Accepted: 05/28/2021] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The outcome of organ transplantation is largely dictated by selection of a well-matched donor, which results in less chance of graft rejection. An allogeneic immune response is the main immunological barrier for successful organ transplantation. Donor and recipient human leukocyte antigen (HLA) mismatching diminishes outcomes after solid organ transplantation. The current evaluation of HLA incompatibility does not provide information on the immunogenicity of individual HLA mismatches and impact of non-HLA-related alloantigens, especially in vivo. Here we demonstrate a new method for analysis of alloimmune responsiveness between donor and recipient in vivo by introducing a humanized mouse model. Using molecular, cellular, and genomic analyses, we demonstrated that a recipient's personalized humanized mouse provided the most sensitive assessment of allogeneic responsiveness to potential donors. In our study, HLA typing provided a better recipient-donor match for one donor among two related donors. In contrast, assessment of an allogeneic response by mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) was indistinguishable between these donors. We determined that, in the recipient's humanized mouse model, the donor selected by HLA typing induced the strongest allogeneic response with markedly increased allograft rejection markers, including activated cytotoxic Granzyme B-expressing CD8+ T cells. Moreover, the same donor induced stronger upregulation of genes involved in the allograft rejection pathway as determined by transcriptome analysis of isolated human CD45+cells. Thus, the humanized mouse model determined the lowest degree of recipient-donor alloimmune response, allowing for better selection of donor and minimized immunological risk of allograft rejection in organ transplantation. In addition, this approach could be used to evaluate the level of alloresponse in allogeneic cell-based therapies that include cell products derived from pluripotent embryonic stem cells or adult stem cells, both undifferentiated and differentiated, all of which will produce allogeneic immune responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashwin Ajith
- Georgia Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, United States
| | - Laura L. Mulloy
- Nephrology Division, Department of Medicine, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, United States
| | - Md. Abu Musa
- Georgia Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, United States
| | - Valia Bravo-Egana
- Histocompatibility and Immunology Laboratory, Department of Surgery, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University Medical Center, Augusta, GA, United States
| | - Daniel David Horuzsko
- Program of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine South Georgia, Moultrie, GA, United States
| | - Imran Gani
- Nephrology Division, Department of Medicine, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, United States
| | - Anatolij Horuzsko
- Georgia Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, United States
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Nguyen-Lefebvre AT, Ajith A, Portik-Dobos V, Horuzsko DD, Arbab AS, Dzutsev A, Sadek R, Trinchieri G, Horuzsko A. The innate immune receptor TREM-1 promotes liver injury and fibrosis. J Clin Invest 2018; 128:4870-4883. [PMID: 30137027 DOI: 10.1172/jci98156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2017] [Accepted: 08/21/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Inflammation occurs in all tissues in response to injury or stress and is the key process underlying hepatic fibrogenesis. Targeting chronic and uncontrolled inflammation is one strategy to prevent liver injury and fibrosis progression. Here, we demonstrate that triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 1 (TREM-1), an amplifier of inflammation, promotes liver disease by intensifying hepatic inflammation and fibrosis. In the liver, TREM-1 expression was limited to liver macrophages and monocytes and was highly upregulated on Kupffer cells, circulating monocytes, and monocyte-derived macrophages in a mouse model of chronic liver injury and fibrosis induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) administration. TREM-1 signaling promoted proinflammatory cytokine production and mobilization of inflammatory cells to the site of injury. Deletion of Trem1 reduced liver injury, inflammatory cell infiltration, and fibrogenesis. Reconstitution of Trem1-deficient mice with Trem1-sufficient Kupffer cells restored the recruitment of inflammatory monocytes and the severity of liver injury. Markedly increased infiltration of liver fibrotic areas with TREM-1-positive Kupffer cells and monocytes/macrophages was found in patients with hepatic fibrosis. Our data support a role of TREM-1 in liver injury and hepatic fibrogenesis and suggest that TREM-1 is a master regulator of Kupffer cell activation, which escalates chronic liver inflammatory responses, activates hepatic stellate cells, and reveals a mechanism of promotion of liver fibrosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anh Thu Nguyen-Lefebvre
- Molecular Oncology and Biomarkers Program, Georgia Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, Georgia, USA
| | - Ashwin Ajith
- Molecular Oncology and Biomarkers Program, Georgia Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, Georgia, USA
| | - Vera Portik-Dobos
- Molecular Oncology and Biomarkers Program, Georgia Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, Georgia, USA
| | - Daniel David Horuzsko
- Molecular Oncology and Biomarkers Program, Georgia Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, Georgia, USA
| | - Ali Syed Arbab
- Tumor Angiogenesis Laboratory, Georgia Cancer Center, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Augusta University, Augusta, Georgia, USA
| | - Amiran Dzutsev
- Cancer and Inflammation Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Ramses Sadek
- Georgia Cancer Center, Augusta University, Augusta, Georgia, USA
| | - Giorgio Trinchieri
- Cancer and Inflammation Program, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Anatolij Horuzsko
- Molecular Oncology and Biomarkers Program, Georgia Cancer Center, Department of Medicine, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, Georgia, USA
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