Protein seeds shorten graft durability

In aged rodents undergoing liver-tissue replacement, researchers propose testing whether preparing the host tissue boundary can quietly shorten a graft’s long-term durability. The idea is that conditioning may release protein seeds, clumps that can make compatible proteins adopt the same harmful shape, into fluid collected from the graft interface. That fluid should pass the effect to compatible test tissue. Removing the seeds with a protein-specific antibody, while preserving soluble inflammatory material, should erase the transfer if the mechanism is correct. Seed-negative hosts and seed-depleted preparations should also avoid the late loss at the same handoff delay. Persistence after depletion would weaken this account and leave other explanations open.