{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]],"date-time":"2026-06-17T06:52:39Z","timestamp":1781679159884,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":13,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]],"date-time":"2026-06-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781654400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000060","name":"National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000060","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Transplant."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The mouse heterotopic heart transplant model is a widely used system for dissecting mechanisms of graft rejection and identifying new therapeutic targets, owing to its relative technical simplicity and the availability of well-defined inbred strains. One limitation of the model is that monitoring of the non-life sustaining implanted graft by manual palpation does not provide information regarding the magnitude of the anti-donor immune response and is operator-dependent. Building on previous studies suggesting that trans-abdominal ultrasonography can detect graft rejection more precisely than manual palpation, we tested if changes in motion mode (M-mode) ultrasound also correlated with the magnitude of the anti-donor T cell response.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We performed sets of MHC-mismatched heterotopic heart transplants in mice and quantified the accuracy of palpation vs. ultrasonography in determining graft rejection. In an additional set of mice, we performed mixed lymphocyte reactions to quantify anti-donor T cell immunity at a fixed time point (usual experimental design) or at time points determined by changes in allograft M-mode analysis.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The data demonstrate that ultrasonography is superior to manual palpation for determining graft rejection and newly shows that changes in M-mode associate with the magnitude of anti-donor T cell immunity. These findings are important to increase reproducibility and translational impact of studies using this model.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/frtra.2026.1840060","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]],"date-time":"2026-06-17T05:56:05Z","timestamp":1781675765000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Echocardiography-guided assessment of mouse cardiac transplant rejection improves model reproducibility"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"5","author":[{"given":"Angela","family":"Clemens","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Translational Transplant Research Center and Barbara T. Murphy Division of Nephrology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai","place":["New York, NY, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sara","family":"Alibrandi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Translational Transplant Research Center and Barbara T. Murphy Division of Nephrology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai","place":["New York, NY, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paolo","family":"Molinari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Translational Transplant Research Center and Barbara T. Murphy Division of Nephrology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai","place":["New York, NY, United States"]},{"name":"Unit of Nephrology, Dialysis and Kidney Transplantation, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Grande Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico di Milano","place":["Milan, Italy"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Johan","family":"Noble","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Translational Transplant Research Center and Barbara T. Murphy Division of Nephrology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai","place":["New York, NY, United States"]},{"name":"Nephrology, Hemodialysis, Apheresis and Kidney Transplantation Department, University Hospital Grenoble","place":["Grenoble, France"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Barbara","family":"Franchin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Translational Transplant Research Center and Barbara T. Murphy Division of Nephrology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai","place":["New York, NY, United States"]},{"name":"Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation Unit, Department of Surgery, Oncology and Gastroenterology DISCOG, University Hospital of Padova","place":["Padova, Italy"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Miguel","family":"Fribourg","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Translational Transplant Research Center and Barbara T. Murphy Division of Nephrology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai","place":["New York, NY, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paolo","family":"Cravedi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Translational Transplant Research Center and Barbara T. Murphy Division of Nephrology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai","place":["New York, NY, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nicholas","family":"Chun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Translational Transplant Research Center and Barbara T. Murphy Division of Nephrology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai","place":["New York, NY, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1820","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ajt.2025.04.012","article-title":"Best practices of heart transplantation in mice","volume":"25","author":"Alegre","year":"2025","journal-title":"Am J Transplant"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1362","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ajt.2024.01.006","article-title":"Advancing mouse models for transplantation research","volume":"24","author":"Cravedi","year":"2024","journal-title":"Am J Transplant"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"565","DOI":"10.1002\/micr.20544","article-title":"Assessment of graft function in rodent models of heart transplantation","volume":"28","author":"Martins","year":"2008","journal-title":"Microsurgery"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"315","DOI":"10.1093\/cvr\/22.5.315","article-title":"Electrocardiographic monitoring of cardiac transplants in mice","volume":"22","author":"Mottram","year":"1988","journal-title":"Cardiovasc Res"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"712","DOI":"10.1097\/00007890-199203000-00052","article-title":"Rejection criteria for the heterotopically placed mouse heart","volume":"53","author":"X\u00fc","year":"1992","journal-title":"Transplantation"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"580","DOI":"10.1111\/ajt.12056","article-title":"Allograft outcomes in outbred mice","volume":"13","author":"Reichenbach","year":"2013","journal-title":"Am J Transplant"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1109","DOI":"10.1161\/01.cir.94.5.1109","article-title":"Transthoracic echocardiography in models of cardiac disease in the mouse","volume":"94","author":"Tanaka","year":"1996","journal-title":"Circulation"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"93","DOI":"10.1016\/j.vascn.2016.12.001","article-title":"Early echocardiographic predictors of outcomes in the mouse transverse aortic constriction heart failure model","volume":"84","author":"Hampton","year":"2017","journal-title":"J Pharmacol Toxicol Methods"},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"492","DOI":"10.1016\/j.transproceed.2021.12.032","article-title":"Evaluation of cardiac graft function by echocardiography in mice","volume":"54","author":"Iguchi","year":"2022","journal-title":"Transplant Proc"},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1315","DOI":"10.1067\/mje.2002.124644","article-title":"Echocardiography improves detection of rejection after heterotopic mouse cardiac transplantation","volume":"15","author":"Scherrer-Crosbie","year":"2002","journal-title":"J Am Soc Echocardiogr"},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"238","DOI":"10.3791\/238","article-title":"Heterotopic heart transplantation in mice","volume":"6","author":"Liu","year":"2007","journal-title":"J Vis Exp"},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2810","DOI":"10.1111\/ajt.14328","article-title":"Complement dependence of murine costimulatory blockade-resistant cellular cardiac allograft rejection","volume":"17","author":"Chun","year":"2017","journal-title":"Am J Transplant"},{"key":"B13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"533","DOI":"10.3390\/diagnostics12020533","article-title":"Understanding healthcare Professionals' perspectives on point-of-care testing","volume":"12","author":"Teebagy","year":"2022","journal-title":"Diagnostics (Basel)"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Transplantation"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/frtra.2026.1840060\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]],"date-time":"2026-06-17T05:56:06Z","timestamp":1781675766000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/frtra.2026.1840060\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]]},"references-count":13,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/frtra.2026.1840060"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/frtra.2026.1840060","relation":{},"ISSN":["2813-2440"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2813-2440","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]]},"article-number":"1840060"}}