The roles of sepsis-induced myeloid derived suppressor cells in mice corneal, skin and combined transplantation

• We used adoptive transferred iMDSCs in two different types of transplants.
• iMDSC significantly prolong the survival of corneal, skin and combined transplants.
• We examine the distributions of MDSCs in recipients' bone marrow and corneal grafts.

PurposeTo explore the effects of adoptive transferring sepsis induced myeloid-derived suppressor cells (iMDSCs) in mice corneal, skin, and combined corneal–skin survival.MethodsAllogeneic full-thickness corneal transplantation, fully mismatched skin transplantation, and corneal–skin combined transplantation (donor C57BL/6 to recipient Balb/c mice) were performed. Sepsis-induced infectious-MDSCs (iMDSCs), were purified from bone marrow of cecal ligated and punctured (CLP) Balb/c mice. Recipient-derived iMDSCs were adoptively transferred into different recipient groups by retro-orbital injection after surgeries. Corneal and skin grafts were examined and photographed routinely for a period of 45 days. Histopathology was performed to evaluate corneal-graft inflammation. Bone marrow and/or corneal grafts in each group were harvested from executed recipients on postoperative days 15, 25, 35. Corneal cells and bone marrow cells were stained with CD11b-PE and Gr1-FITC, analyzed by FACS.ResultsiMDSCs were able to significantly prolong allograft survival in both corneal and corneal–skin combined transplant groups. A substantial expansion of MDSCs was observed in recipients' bone marrow, particularly in combined groups at an early stage postoperatively, and accordingly the concentration of MDSCs in corneal grafts increased significantly in adoptive transferred groups.ConclusionsSepsis-induced MDSCs may suggest a novel cellular therapeutic approach for preventing various types of allograft rejection.