Establishment of a Xenogeneic Chimera without GVHD in NK Cell-Depleted SCID Mice by Grafting Rat Fetal Liver Cells

Rat lymphopoiesis did not develop when naive SCID mice were transplanted with rat fetal liver cells. However, when SCID mice were depleted of NK cells by administration of anti-murine IL-2Rβ mAb before transplantation, remarkable reconstitution of both rat T and B cells was observed in these mice without any evidence of graft-versus-host disease macroscopically or histologically. T cells in these reconstituted mice proliferated well in response to Con A and third-party rat and mouse antigens, whereas no response was seen to the stimulation with either donor rat- or host mouse-type cells. When these xenogeneic chimera mice had been immunized with SRBC, these mice exhibited DTH reaction and antibody production against the homologous antigen. These results indicate that rat fetal liver cells can differentiate to functional T and B cells in the xenogeneic microenvironment of SCID mice, if host NK cells are depleted beforehand. These rat-type T cells develop within SCID thymuses and acquire tolerance to either donor F344 rat or host SCID mouse antigens.