A. Benedict Cosimi

Tolerance of mouse kidney allografts arises in grafts that develop regulatory tertiary lymphoid organs (rTLOs). Single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) data and adoptive transfer of alloreactive T cells after transplantation showed that cytotoxic CD8 ⁺ T cells are reprogrammed within the accepted graft to an exhausted/regulatory-like phenotype mediated by IFN-γ. Establishment of rTLOs was required because adoptive transfer of alloreactive T cells prior to transplantation results in kidney allograft rejection. Despite the presence of intragraft CD8 ⁺ cells with a regulatory phenotype, they were not essential for the induction and maintenance of kidney allograft tolerance since renal allotransplantation into CD8-KO recipients resulted in acceptance and not rejection. Analysis of scRNA-seq data from allograft kidneys and malignant tumors identified similar regulatory-like cell types within the T cell clusters and trajectory analysis showed that cytotoxic CD8 ⁺ T cells are reprogrammed into an exhausted/regulatory-like phenotype intratumorally. Induction of cytotoxic CD8 ⁺ T cell dysfunction of infiltrating cells appears to be a beneficial mechanistic pathway that protects the kidney allotransplant from rejection through a process we call “defensive tolerance.” This pathway has implications for our understanding of allotransplant tolerance and tumor resistance to host immunity.

Successful induction of allograft tolerance has been achieved in nonhuman primates (NHPs) and humans via induction of transient hematopoietic chimerism. Since allograft tolerance was achieved in these recipients without durable chimerism, peripheral mechanisms are postulated to play a major role. Here, we report our studies of T cell immunity in NHP recipients that achieved long-term tolerance versus those that rejected the allograft (AR). All kidney, heart, and lung transplant recipients underwent simultaneous or delayed donor bone marrow transplantation (DBMT) following conditioning with a nonmyeloablative regimen. After DBMT, mixed lymphocyte culture with CFSE consistently revealed donor-specific loss of CD8 ⁺ T cell responses in tolerant (TOL) recipients, while marked CD4 ⁺ T cell proliferation in response to donor antigens was found to persist. Interestingly, a significant proportion of the proliferated CD4 ⁺ cells were FOXP3 ⁺ in TOL recipients, but not in AR or naive NHPs. In TOL recipients, CD4 ⁺ FOXP3 ⁺ cell proliferation against donor antigens was greater than that observed against third-party antigens. Finally, the expanded Tregs appeared to be induced Tregs (iTregs) that were converted from non-Tregs. These data provide support for the hypothesis that specific induction of iTregs by donor antigens is key to long-term allograft tolerance induced by transient mixed chimerism.