Objective

Transplant arteriosclerosis (TA) restricts long-term survival of heart transplant recipients. Although the role of monocyte/macrophages is well established in native atherosclerosis, it has been studied to a much lesser extent in TA. Plasma cholesterol is the most important non-immunologic risk factor for development of TA but the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. We hypothesized that monocyte/macrophages might play an important role in the pathogenesis of TA under hyperlipidemic conditions.

Methods

We studied TA in fully mismatched arterial allografts transplanted into hyperlipidemic ApoE−/− recipients compared to wild-type controls. The recruitment of distinct monocyte populations into the grafts was tracked by in vivo labelling with fluorescent microspheres. We used antibody-mediated depletion protocols to dissect the relative contribution of T lymphocytes and monocytes to disease development.

Results

In the hyperlipidemic environment the progression of TA was highly exacerbated and the inflammatory CD11b+CD115+Ly-6Chi monocytes were preferentially recruited into the neointima. The number of macrophage-derived foam cells present in the grafts strongly correlated with plasma cholesterol and disease severity. Depletion of Ly-6Chi monocytes and neutrophils significantly inhibited macrophage accumulation and disease progression. The accelerated monocyte recruitment occurs through a T cell-independent mechanism, as T cell depletion did not influence macrophage accumulation into the grafts.

Conclusions

Our study identifies for the first time the involvement of inflammatory Ly-6Chi monocytes into the pathogenesis of TA, particularly in conditions of hyperlipidemia. Targeted therapies modulating the recruitment and activation of these cells could potentially delay coronary allograft vasculopathy and improve long-term survival of heart transplant recipients.

Highlights

► Inflammatory Ly-6Chi monocytes infiltrate arterial allografts during TA development. ► Hyperlipidemia potently accelerates Ly-6Chi monocyte recruitment into the neointima. ► TA severity correlates well with plasma cholesterol and macrophage accumulation. ► Macrophage-derived foam cell accumulation occurs independently of T lymphocytes. ► Ly-6Chi monocyte and neutrophil depletion inhibits TA development.

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) manipulated ex vivo have potential as cellular therapeutics in autoimmunity and transplantation. Although it is possible to expand naturally occurring Tregs, an attractive alternative possibility, particularly suited to solid organ and bone marrow transplantation, is the stimulation of total T cell populations with defined allogeneic antigen presenting cells under conditions that lead to the generation or expansion of donor-reactive, adaptive Tregs. Here we demonstrate that stimulation of mouse CD4+ T cells by immature allogeneic dendritic cells (DCs) combined with pharmacological inhibition of phosphodiesterase 3 (PDEi) results in a functional enrichment of Foxp3+ T cells. Without further manipulation or selection, the resultant population delayed skin allograft rejection mediated by polyclonal CD4+ effectors or donor-reactive CD8+ TCR transgenic T cells and inhibited both effector cell proliferation and T cell priming for IFN-γ production. Notably, PDE inhibition also enhanced the enrichment of human Foxp3+ CD4+ T cells driven by allogeneic APC. These cells inhibited T cell proliferation in a standard in vitro mixed lymphocyte assay and importantly, attenuated the development of vasculopathy mediated by autologous PBMC in a functionally relevant humanized mouse transplant model. These data establish a method for the ex vivo generation of graft-reactive, functional mouse and human Tregs that uses a clinically approved agent, making pharmacological PDE inhibition a potential strategy for Treg-based therapies

Transplant arteriosclerosis (TA) is the hallmark of chronic allograft dysfunction (CAD) affecting transplanted organs in the long term [1,2]. These fibroproliferative lesions lead to neointimal thickening of arteries in all transplanted allografts [2]. Luminal narrowing then leads to graft ischemia and organ demise. To date, there are no known tolerance induction strategies that prevent TA [3,4]. Therefore, this study was designed to test the hypothesis that human regulatory T cells (Treg cells) expanded ex vivo could prevent TA. Here we show the comparative capacity of Treg cells, sorted via two separate strategies, to prevent TA in a clinically relevant chimeric humanized mouse system. We found that the in vivo development of TA in human arteries was prevented with the treatment of ex vivo expanded human Treg cells. Additionally, we show that Treg cells sorted based on the low expression of CD127 (IL-7Rα) provide a more potent therapy to conventional Treg cells. Our results demonstrate, for the first time, that human Treg cells can inhibit TA by impairing effector function and graft infiltration. We anticipate our findings to serve as a foundation for the clinical development of therapeutics targeting TA in both allograft transplantation and other immune-mediated causes of vasculopathy [5].

Immunological tolerance or functional unresponsiveness to a transplant is arguably the only approach that is likely to provide long-term graft survival without the problems associated with life-long global immunosuppression. Over the past 50 years, rodent models have become an invaluable tool for elucidating the mechanisms of tolerance to alloantigens. Importantly, rodent models can be adapted to ensure that they reflect more accurately the immune status of human transplant recipients. More recently, the development of genetically modified mice has enabled specific insights into the cellular and molecular mechanisms that play a key role in both the induction and maintenance of tolerance to be obtained and more complex questions to be addressed. This review highlights strategies designed to induce alloantigen specific immunological unresponsiveness leading to transplantation tolerance that have been developed through the use of experimental models.