T follicular helper and memory cell responses and the mTOR pathway in murine heart transplantation

BACKGROUND The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors are valuable immunosuppressants in clinical transplantation; however, the mTOR regulation of allogeneic T-cell responses is not fully understood yet. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the effects of T-cell-specific mTOR deletion on the allogeneic T-cell responses and heart transplant survival. METHODS BALB/c heart allografts, with or without BALB/c skin...