# TRANSPLANTATION OF ALLOGENEIC SKIN EQUIVALENTS

> **NIH NIH R01** · WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY · 1992 · $79,620

## Abstract

Skin plays a vital role in protecting the body against the damaging effects
of sunlight, invasion by foreign microorganisms, unregulated water loss,
and uncontrolled fluctuations n body temperature.  Rather than serving as a
passive barrier, the skin interacts actively with the immune system and
serves as a major line of defense for the body.  The bilayered skin
equivalent (SE) provides a convenient model system for investigating the
immune properties of skin cells.  This simplified model of skin is
constructed by layering a suspension of epidermal cells on a collagen
matrix populated with fibroblasts.  Skin equivalents constructed using
isogeneic (Lewis) epidermal cells and allogeneic (Brown Norway) fibroblasts
persist after grafting to Lewis rats, while those generated using
allogeneic epidermal cells are rejected.  Depletion of the Ia antigen+
Langerhans cells from the epidermal suspension used to construct the skin
equivalents does not prolong the survival of the allogeneic epidermal SE
grafts on rats, suggesting that keratinocytes may play a major role in
provoking graft rejection.  To study the interactions between grafted
keratinocytes and the host immune system, SEs constructed with either
isogeneic or allogeneic epidermal cell suspensions depleted of Ia antigen+
cells will be grafted to Lewis rats and the influx of Langerhans cells and
leukocytes will be compared.  Growth of keratinocytes on plastic substrata
permanently decreases their ability to express Ia antigens.  To determine
whether this growth on plastic also reduces their ability to provoke graft
rejection, allogeneic and isogeneic epidermal cells will maintained in
defined medium on plastic dishes for at least one passage before their
addition to the surface of the collagen lattices.  The influx of
inflammatory cells into the two sets of SE grafts will be compared to
determine whether the growth of epidermal cells on the artificial plastic
substratum permanently alters their ability to provoke rejection.  Gamma-
interferon will be added to SEs constructed with primary epidermal cells to
induce Ia antigen expression on the keratinocytes, potentially accelerating
graft rejection in SEs containing allogeneic, but not isogeneic, epidermal
cells.  A better understanding of the role of the keratinocyte in graft
rejection should improve the techniques for skin expansion of the in vitro.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3159313
- **Project number:** 5R01AR039297-05
- **Recipient organization:** WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY
- **SAM.gov UEI:** NPT2UNTNHJZ1
- **Principal Investigator:** Barbara E Hull
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1992
- **Award amount:** $79,620
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1988-04-01 → 1994-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3159313

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3159313, TRANSPLANTATION OF ALLOGENEIC SKIN EQUIVALENTS (5R01AR039297-05). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3159313. Licensed CC0.

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