Checkpoint blockade does not prevent the establishment of transplant
tolerance in Irf4‐deficient mice.
Irf4fl/flCd4‐Cre mice
were transplanted with BALB/c hearts on day 0 and treated with
anti‐PD‐L1 and anti‐CTLA‐4 (αPD-L1 +
αCTLA‐4) mAbs on days 0, 3, and 5 to trigger heart graft
rejection. Recipients with rejected heart allografts were then transplanted
again with BALB/c and C3H skin allografts 30 days after heart grafting (n = 6).
A, Schematic of the experimental design. B, The percentage of skin allograft
survival after skin transplantation on αPD-L1 + αCTLA‐4
treated, BALB/c heart graft rejected Irf4
fl/flCd4‐Cre mice. **P =
.0022; Mann‐Whitney test. C, Representative images of accepted BALB/c
skin allografts (>100 days) on αPD‐L1 +
αCTLA‐4 treated, BALB/c heart graft rejected Irf4
fl/flCd4‐Cre recipients. D, A representative
image of C3H (left) and BALB/c (right) skin allografts on a αPD‐L1
+ αCTLA‐4 treated, BALB/c heart graft rejected
Irf4fl/flCd4‐Cre
mouse