ANTI-Gal??1-3Gal ANTIBODY RESPONSE TO PORCINE BONE MARROW IN UNMODIFIED BABOONS AND BABOONS CONDITIONED FOR TOLERANCE INDUCTION1

Abstract

(i) EIA of anti-alphaGal antibody in unmodified baboons results in a transient depletion followed by a mild rebound of antibody; (ii) exposure to pig BM cells results in a substantial increase in anti-alphaGal antibody production; (iii) a nonmyeloablative conditioning regimen reduces the rate of antibody return and (iv) markedly reduces the response to pig BM cells; (v) the anti-alphaGal response is completely suppressed by a myeloablative regimen if CD2+ and CD20+ cells are eliminated from the autologous BM inoculum. Furthermore, (vi) challenge with pig BM cells appears to stimulate only an anti-alphaGal antibody response without the development of other (non-alphaGal) anti-pig antibodies. We conclude that regimens used for T-cell tolerance induction can be beneficial in reducing the anti-alphaGal antibody response to porcine BM.