Immune responses to intrastriatal grafts in the rat

Although intracerebral transplantation is at the stage of clinical trials, numerous issues of the recipient-graft interactions still await resolution. The proposed research attempts to clarify some aspects of the recipient immune response to an intracerebral graft. Specifically, the aims of the proposed project are: (1) to define the details of the recipient (rat) immune response to cell grafts from donors of a related species (mouse) or unrelated species (hamster or cow), (2) to evaluate a new approach for early detection of graft rejection in vivo, and (3) to study the effects of various manipulations of the immune response using drugs affecting various selected functions of the recipient immune system. The results of the project will ellucidate some major unresolved issues related to the use of neurotransplantation in treatment of neurological disorders, particularly those related to the use of other animal species donor tissues for grafting.