FACTORS OF RESISTANCE TO HETEROPLASTIC TISSUE-GRAFTING

Abstract

It has been shown that the chick embryo offers suitable conditions for the growth of implanted tissues, whether these be embryonic or adult, of the same species or a foreign one. The chick at about the time of hatching develops a defensive mechanism against the tissue of foreign species. This resistance can be supplied to the embryo in the early stages if grafts of adult spleen or bone marrow are implanted. Under these conditions the embryo exhibits the same resistance to foreign tissue as does the adult, and presents the same histological manifestations about the graft. Furthermore, the same tissues, spleen and bone marrow, when grafted into an embryo with an established and growing rat tumor, bring about a retrogression and absorption of the foreign tissue. Other adult tissues do not supply this power to the embryo.