The role of donor and recipient B7-1 (CD80) in allograft rejection

Blockade of CD28-mediated T cell costimulatory signals produces effective immunosuppression of a variety of T cell-dependent in vivo immune responses, including autoimmune disorders and transplant rejection. The soluble fusion protein CTLA4Ig, which competitively blocks CD28 ligands B7-1 and B7-2, can prevent allograft and xenograft rejection and in some circumstances induce transplantation tolerance. To determine the relative roles of B7-1 and B7-2 in graft rejection, we have performed islet and cardiac allografts with normal and B7-1(-/-) mice in conjunction with selective blocking reagents. We found that the absence of B7-1 on donor or recipient tissues leads to a slight prolongation of islet allograft survival, but has minimal or no effect on cardiac allograft survival. Allograft function is further prolonged in the islet model when both donor and recipient lack B7-1, although cardiac allograft survival is not prolonged. In the cardiac model, treatment with CTLA4Ig induces long term survival in B7-1(-/-) recipients regardless of donor status. In contrast, anti-B7-2 mAb leads to indefinite allograft survival only when the recipient and donor both lack B7-1, indicating that even in the absence of available B7-2, B7-1 molecules on the donor or recipient cells alone are sufficient to induce graft rejection. These data also indicate that B7-1 and B7-2 are the only CD28 ligands relevant to cardiac allograft rejection in mice.