Aging Impairs Recipient T Cell Intrinsic and Extrinsic Factors in Response to Transplantation

BACKGROUND: As increasing numbers of older people are listed for solid organ transplantation, there is an urgent need to better understand how aging modifies alloimmune responses. Here, we investigated whether aging impairs the ability of donor dendritic cells or recipient immunity to prime alloimmune responses to organ transplantation. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using murine experimental models, we found that aging impaired the host environment to expand and activate antigen specific CD8(+) T cells. Additionally, aging impaired the ability of polyclonal T cells to induce acute allograft rejection. However, the alloimmune priming capability of donor dendritic cells was preserved with aging. CONCLUSION: Aging impairs recipient responses, both T cell intrinsic and extrinsic, in response to organ transplantation.