Hematopoietic reconstitution by transplanted grafts in lethally irradiated recipients.

PERSISTENCE of multiline age microchimerism has been shown in recipients of successful solid organ transplantation.1•2 Continuous existence for decades of a trace number of donor cells implicates long-lasting engraftment of donor hematopoietic progenitor cells originating from the transplanted organs. We have recently showed that syngeneic organ transplantation was able to protect animals from lethal irradiation? This study further describes multiline age differentiation and self-renewal capacity of hematopoietic stem cells existing in solid organs.