Figure 6.

Wt and MHC I -/- mice lost Tg skin grafts with identical kinetics, while MHC II -/- mice retained grafts of Tg skin. Tail skin was harvested from Tg and Wt mice and grafted onto the opposite flanks of age- and gender-matched Wt (solid circles), MHC I -/- (solid squares), MHC II -/- (solid triangles), and “immune” Wt (open circles) recipients. Bandages were removed on day 7; thereafter, mice were examined daily for 30 days then weekly to assess graft viability and size. Skin grafts were graded as “lost” if their area became ≤ 20% of their original size (McFarland et al., 2003). These longitudinal studies demonstrated that grafts of Tg skin on Wt and MHC I -/- recipients displayed accelerated involution at days 15 to 23 (i.e., the approximate time circulating anti-hBPAG2 IgG became detectable in recipients), and complete loss by days 28 to 30. Tg skin placed on “immune” Wt recipients (i.e., mice previously grafted with Tg skin and displaying anti-hBPAG2 in their circulation) were typically lost within 15 days – a profile like that observed once anti-hBPAG2 IgG first appeared in Wt mice grafted with Tg skin. Tg skin grafts placed on MHC II -/- recipients retained their viability and size for their entire period of study. n=4/group in this longitudinal study that was representative of the aggregate work.