Prolonged minor allograft survival in intravenously primed mice. Effect of recipient's age and of prior immunity to minor H antigens on the priming cells.
The effect of a pretransplant i.v. infusion of donor-strain spleen cells into recipient mice that were already immune to minor H antigens on the infused cells was studied. The central finding is that a preexisting state of immunity against target minor H antigens on a skin graft is sufficient to overcome the survival-prolonging effect of a pretransplant i.v. infusion of donor-strain spleen cells. Moreover, immunity directed against an irrelevant antigen on the infused cells, rather than against a target antigen on the indicator skin graft, is sufficient to cause the beneficial effect of the infusion to be greatly reduced. A further significant finding is that the ability of a pretransplant infusion of donor-strain spleen cells to prolong the survival of a minor allograft of skin declines as the recipient matures from a 6-9-week-old juvenile to a 12-16-week-old adult.