Comparative Study of Human Hematopoietic Cell Engraftment into Balb/c and C57BL/6 Strain of Rag-2/Jak3 Double-Deficient Mice

Abstract

Immunodeficient mice are becoming invaluable tools in human stem cell and tumor research. In this study, we generated Rag-2/Jak3 double-deficient (Rag-2 ^−/−Jak3 ^−/−) mice with a C57/BL6 and Balb/c genetic background and compared the human lymphohematopoietic cell engraftment rate. Human cord blood-derived CD34 ⁺ hematopoietic stem cells were successfully engrafted into Balb/c Rag-2 ^−/−Jak3 ^−/− mice; however, the engraftment rate was far lower in C57/BL6 Rag-2 ^−/−Jak3 ^−/− mice. Transplantation of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells resulted in the same tendency. Thus, a Balb/c background offers superior engraftment capacity than a C57/BL6 background and provides an attractive model for human hematopoietic cell engraftment.