Abstract
THE factors involved in skin graft rejection have not been elucidated fully but it is known that the cellular components of skin, including the epidermis and its appendages, vascular endothelium and passenger leukocytes, are of primary importance in the process1. Such cellular elements can be removed by treating skin with a solution of crystalline trypsin to leave the dermal collagen component intact. A preliminary study of allografts of trypsin purified dermal collagen (hereafter referred to as dermal collagen) in the pig showed that although subcutaneous implants underwent some initial collagenolysis they achieved a state of permanence without lymphocytic infiltration occurring3. Since this concurred with the view that mature collagen shows low or no antigenicity, especially within species4–7, we thought it likely that trypsin prepared collagen could be transplanted in animals other than the pig without eliciting an immune response.
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