Prolongation of rat intestinal allograft survival by administration of donor interleukin-12 p35-silenced bone marrow-derived dendritic cells

Severe graft rejection remains an important obstacle in intestinal transplantation. In this study, we demonstrated that intravenous injection of interleukin (IL)-12 p35 siRNAtransfected dendritic cells (DCs) into recipient rats prolonged the survival of intestinal allografts. Serum IL-2 and interferon-gamma levels in the IL-12 p35 siRNA-transfected DCs treatment group were both significantly lower than in control groups at 7 days after transplantation. Further study is required to investigate the operative pathways and to optimize the strategy targeting dendritic cells to induce tolerance to intestinal allografts.