Transplantation Immunity Involving the H-3 Locus: Graft Survival Times2

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Abstract
The behavior and survival times of skin homografts in coisogenic strains of mice differing by a single histocompatibility gene at the H-3 locus were studied. Several methods for determining graft survival were compared. The range of first-set survival times in the strain combinations used were: C57BL/10Sc → C57BL/10-H-3b A, 16 to 27 days; C57BL/10Sc → C57BL/10-H-3b, 15 to 24 days; C57BL/10-H-3b A → C57BL/10Sc 28 to >78 days; C57BL/10-H-3b → C57BL/10Sc, 38 to >60 days. The homograft reactions resulting from weak genetic differences were not only slower to appear but also milder in degree than those resulting from H-2 incompatibility. The “spread” of graft breakdown times around the median increased as the genetic difference between graft and host became less, which suggests that other factors than specific antigenicity of the grafted tissue influence the over-all reaction. At any given time, the basal cells of the epidermis of a graft were more greatly affected by immunity than more superficial cells. This supports the theory that graft destruction is the result of a cytotoxic reaction rather than ischemia after vascular stasis. Survival times of second-set grafts were more uniform; all were destroyed by the 8th day in the combination C57BL/10Sc → C57BL/10-H-3b A, and by the 11th day in the reverse direction.