I. Soderstrom et al., ESTABLISHMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF RAG-2 DEFICIENT NONOBESE DIABETIC MICE, Scandinavian journal of immunology, 43(5), 1996, pp. 525-530
The authors have established a new immunodeficient mouse strain on the
genetic background of the diabetes prone non-obese diabetic (NOD) mou
se. A deletion mutant of the RAG-2 gene was back crossed 10 generation
s onto the NOD/Bom strain background. The homozygous NODrag-2-/- mice
lack functionally mature B and T lymphocytes and do not develop insuli
tis or diabetes throughout life. In contrast, heterozygous NODrag-2+/-
develop both insulitis and diabetes with an incidence similar to the
wild type NOD mice. In transfer experiments, spleen cells from diabeti
c NOD donors were found to transfer disease to NODrag-2-/- recipients
similar to what has been previously observed in transfer to irradiated
NOD recipients or to immunodeficient NOD-scid/scid mice. While resemb
ling the recently established NOD-scid/scid mice in many respects, the
NODrag-2-/- mice represents an advantageous model for reconstitution
of the pathogenesis of murine IDDM as it does not produce any endogeno
us, mature T or B lymphocytes.