Measurement of chimerism in cynomolgus monkeys using human-specific short tandem repeat-based assay.

Preclinical testing of a mixed chimerism mediated organ transplant tolerance strategy, in a cynomolgus macaque model, would be facilitated by the establishment of a reliable technique for quantitative assessment of chimerism. Among various techniques used for measurement of chimerism in humans, microsatellite DNA profiling has been considered the most versatile one that can discriminate between two individuals. We adopted a commercially available short tandem repeat profiling methodology to cynomolgus monkeys using two human specific alleles, TPOX and CSF1PO.