METHODS IN MAMMALIAN IMMUNOGENETICS 373 



gently. Then the bandaging is continued under tension, so that the animal is tightly 

 bandaged. At the end, the bandage is moistened with a finger and rubbed to give a 

 smooth and finished surface. The animal can then be set aside for the bandage to dry 

 and if necessary the bandages can be marked with dots of dye to distinguish individuals 

 or experiments. It is helpful to keep the mouse warm until his recovery from the 

 anesthetic is complete. 



The bandage should not be removed for six days, and unless one is looking for 

 established immunity (a second-set response) it is better to leave the bandage in place 

 for eight or ten days. If the bandage is removed at six days, it is often wise to re- 

 bandage until the eighth day to prevent damage to the skin by scratching. After that 

 time the grafted area can be left open and examined daily for the end point of complete 

 graft destruction. Early evidences of reaction include an easy peeling of the epidermis 

 to reveal the glistening surface of the dermis below. 93 Total excisional biopsy and 

 microscopic examination is desirable to confirm end points and immune processes. 



Several short techniques for skin grafting in mice have been described, such as the 

 use of a tissue punch to take the skin from the donors and to prepare the graft bed. In 

 our hands, and those of others, however, these techniques have not always proved 

 successful, perhaps because of the loss of the panniculus as a graft bed, and in our 

 opinion it is preferable to follow the established and fully successful methodology 

 described above. 



Transplantation of other tissues. — A number of tissues and organs other than skin 

 have been successfully transplanted in small laboratory mammals. Procedures for 

 ovarian transplants were described a number of years ago by Robertson. 1063 Thyroid 

 and adrenal transplants in the rat have been adapted to convenient experimental study 

 by Woodruff and Sparrow 1403 using the localization of injected radioactive iodine as 

 an index of thyroid graft survival and function. Techniques for the transplantation of 

 other tissues will not be referred to here, except for a later consideration of the trans- 

 plantation of hematopoietic tissues. The Transplantation Bulletin is a rich source of 

 reference materials. 



Parabiosis. — Several important compatibility studies and techniques depend on 

 the use of parabiotic animals, generally mice or rats. A successful technique for 

 parabiosis of mice has been described by Eichwald et at. 319 Rubin 1079 has suggested 

 that somewhat different results may be observed depending on the nature of the 

 surgical union obtained through different techniques of parabiosis. Finerty 362 gives 

 extensive references to earlier work with parabiosis, especially in the rat. 



Tolerance, paralysis, and enhancement. — Various methods of suppressing immune 

 responses have come to attention in recent years. These include the tolerance to 

 homologous tissue transplants induced in an animal through the injection of viable 

 homologous cells when he is newborn or an embryo; the suppression of immune 

 responsiveness in an adult by injection of large amounts of the antigen, especially 

 effective with polysaccharides (paralysis) ; and the diversion of the immune response in 

 the direction of a type of antibody that suppresses rather than promotes graft rejection 



