Does in utero bone marrow transplantation induce donor-specific tolerance by a combination of clonal deletion and clonal anergy?
In this murine model of in utero bone marrow transplantation, the tolerant state is characterized by partial clonal deletion of donor reactive T cells and clonal anergy of nondeleted donor reactive T cells. The anergic state can be abrogated by exogenous IL2, suggesting that the mechanism of anergy is a deficiency of IL2 production.
These results suggest that Tim-3 may be used as a novel target for increasing immune responses in RCC tumor microenvironment.