LIMITATIONS OF SCID-HU MOUSE MODEL FOR ANTIRETINAL AUTOANTIBODY RESPONSES

The transfer of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) to mic e with severe combined immune deficiency (SCID) allows the investigati on of immune function. The authors investigated the potential of SCID mice to produce anti-retinal antibodies from PBMC derived from retinal vasculitis patients, and in vivo primed with retinal antigen on days 2 and 22 following transfer. Using Western blotting they could not det ect any anti-retinal humoral response in sera from reconstituted anima ls. Human CD4(+) or CD8(+) T cells in spleen or lymph nodes from recon stituted animals were not detected by histological examination. Simila rly, no ocular pathology was apparent. The possible mechanisms involve d in the lack of an anti-retinal specific antibody response in reconst ituted SCID mice are discussed.