Mechanisms of Migration and Generation of Allo-Reactive Donor T Cells That Cause Organ Specific Acute GvHD in Allogeneic BMT Recipients.

Background: Allo-reactive donor T cells are primarily responsible for GvHD in allogeneic BMT. A number of studies have shown that increased allo-reactivity is found among the CD62L+ subset of donor T-cells, but the mechanisms for organ specific allo-reactivity are poorly defined. Our hypothesis is that rapid proliferation and migration of CD62L+ naive donor CD4+ and CD8+ T cells to specific organs leads to acute GvHD.

Methods: We used a parent (C57BL/6) to (C57BL/6 × BALB/c) CB6F1 allogeneic BMT model with a combination of T cell depleted BM (TCD BM) and splenocytes. 30 × 10⁶ congeneic donor splenocytes labeled with CFSE were transplanted with 5 × 10⁶ TCD congeneic BM into lethally irradiated (11Gy) CB6F1 mice. Recipients were sacrificed within 3.5 days of transplant and FACS was used to measure proliferation of CFSE-labeled donor T-cells isolated from blood, spleen, liver, lungs, thymus, BM, lymph nodes, and peritoneal exudates cells (PEC). Syngeneic C57BL/6 recipients served as controls. At least 5 mice per group were used in each experiment.

Results: There was increased homing of CFSE-labeled donor T-cells to most organs in allogeneic compared to syngeneic BMT recipients. CD45.1+ donor cells were 4-fold higher in spleen, p=0.01; 9-fold higher in liver, p=0.002; 14-fold higher in PEC, p=0.017; 136-fold higher in lung, p=0.0006; 126-fold higher in BM, P=0.002, 1482-fold higher in thymus p=0.002 compared to syngeneic recipients. Allogeneic and syngeneic recipients had equivalent numbers of donor CFSE-labeled lymphocytes in PBMC and lymph nodes. The tissue specific homing of CD4+ and CD8+ donor T-cells was also found significantly higher in most organs except the PBMC and LNs. Donor splenocytes were 80% CD62L+ before transplant, but the frequency of CD62L+ donor T-cells had declined to 15–16% in BM, 4–10% in liver, 17–30% in spleen and 10 to 25% in the thymus within 3.5 days post-transplant. In syngeneic recipients, 80% of donor T-cells remained CD62L+ within 3.5 days post-transplant. Most donor T-cells that divided rapidly lost expression of CD62L, while non-replicating donor CD4+ and CD8+ T cells remained predominately CD62L+. The expression of CD44 on donor T-cells were the opposite, with CD44+ cells undergoing less, and CD44− cells dividing more in allogeneic transplant recipients. In syngeneic BMT, donor CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells underwent minimal proliferation within the first 3.5 days post-transplant. Intracellular cytokine staining showed that high levels of IFN-g and TNF-a synthesis was seen among CD62L+ CD4+ and CD8+ T cells that had yet to divide (and had un-diluted CFSE staining).

Conclusion: Migration of allogeneic donor T cells to tissues and local proliferation occurs rapidly after allogeneic BMT compared to recipients of syngeneic transplants. The dissociation of CD62L expression from lymph node homing suggests lack of the CD62L-receptor expression in lymph node HEV following irradiation, or a dominant effect of other chemokine receptors in directing donor T-cell preferentially to other organs. The marked and preferential homing of donor T-cells to the recipient thymus and bone marrow may play a role in achieving donor hematopoietic and T-cell chimerism in recipients of allogeneic BMT. Tissue specific homing of naive CD62L+ donor T-cells, with a high proliferative capacity, is likely responsible for the initiation of acute GvHD at these sites.