Different Inbred Strains Of Mice Research Articles

Electrophoretic mobility and agglutinability of red blood cells: a "new" polymorphism in mice.

A quantitative method has been developed to determine agglutinability of mouse red blood cells. Tests with different inbred strains of mice revealed only two phenotypes. The same inbred strains were tested with the cytopherometer to determine the electrophoretic mobility of the corresponding red cells. Again, two phenotypes were uncovered, and faster mobility was found in the red cells that had higher agglutinability. The genetic control of this character is autosomal and codominant, and segregates independently of H-2 and coat color.

Alpha 1-antitrypsin in sera of inbred mice.

The level of α1-antitrypsin in the sera of 34 different inbred strains of mice was determined. There is a difference of over 100% between the high and low groups. Genetically closely related mice possess similar levels of α1-antitrypsin.

High level of alpha-fetoprotein in sera of adult mice.

AbstractMouse a‐fetoprotein (AFP) was purified by making use of its immunological cross‐reaction with rabbit AFP. A radioimmunoassay, developed for mouse AFP, was used to measure AFP concentrations in the sera of adult mice of different inbred strains. The level of adult mouse AFP was found to be 30–350 ng/ml, which is about 10 times higher than has been reported for humans and rats. An association seems to exist between the high basal level of AFP and the remarkably high incidence of spontaneous hepatomas in mice.

The relationship of REM sleep with learning and memory in mice

The purpose of this study was to determine if a correlation existed between paradoxical sleep and learning capabilities in mice. The hypothesis would predict that the best learners would have the highest percentage of paradoxical sleep. Seven different inbred strains of mice and random-bred Swiss, the types used by Bovet in his learning studies, were implanted with cortical electrodes and their sleep studied electroencephalographically. A significant positive correlation was found between the amount of paradoxical sleep and learning ability on active avoidance tasks for the strains studied.

The mouse liver aldehyde oxidase locus (Aox).

Wide variability has been demonstrated in the properties and presumably the genetic constitution of aldehyde oxidases of 30 different strains of inbred mice. Genetic control of aldehyde oxidase (Aox) has been shown to reside in linkage group XIII and to be 9.6±0.4 recombination units from isocitric dehydrogenase (Id-1) and 28.3±3.5 recombination units from dipeptidase-1 (Dip-1). On the basis of these data and a recombination percent of 23.5±3.9 for Id-1 and Dip-1, the following gene order was deduced: Aox-Id-1-Dip-1. Furthermore, aldehyde oxidase activity was shown to be independent of adrenal influence and to have no clear-cut survival value for animals treated with large doses of N1-methylnicotinamide.

Immunoglobulin Receptors on Mouse Mast Cells. II. Mast Cells of Different Strains and Mastocytomas

Abstract Immunoglobulin receptors on free peritoneal mouse mast cells have been demonstrated by using the indirect rosette technique (1). As free mouse peritoneal mast cells probably bound antibody molecules only weakly, it would be expected that the indirect technique would be much more sensitive than the direct technique. The indirect technique involves the mixing of the mast cell suspension with antibody-coated erythrocytes, while in the direct technique the antibody is mixed with the mast cells followed by the addition of erythrocytes. We also demonstrated that a great difference exists between the different strains of inbred mice with respect to the ability of free peritoneal mast cells to release their histamine content upon contact with antibody and antigen in vitro (2). A possible explanation of the failure of histamine release by the addition of antibody and antigen is the absence of receptors for immunoglobulins on these mast cells.

ANTIGEN‐BINDING MYELOMA PROTEINS IN MICE

Publisher Summary The immunoglobulins are a large family of structurally related proteins secreted by plasma cells. Plasma cells are normally differentiated so that each cell is usually restricted to making immunoglobulin with only a single VL and VH region. This chapter reviews to the immunochemical propeities of the antigen-binding myeloma proteins (AgBMP) of BALB/c mice. Moreover, the chapter is concerned exclusively with myeloma proteins from one experimental and genetic origin, the plasmacytomas that are induced in BALB/c mice by the intraperitoneal implantation of solid plastic materials or mineral oils and related substances. Furthermore, the complexity of the Ig-gene differentiation process is reflected in part in the problems that many workers are now having in interpreting polymorphisms in humoral responses that occur in different inbred strains of mice to the same haptens. Finally, the chapter concludes that a single myeloma protein may contain more than one idiotype, as might be expected; thus it can be important in the future to define idiotypes as precisely as possible so that workers in different laboratories can have antisera of the same specificity when attempting to duplicate experimental procedures.

Auto-Immunity and the Origin of Plasma Cell Tumors

Abstract Two general observations form the basis for considering the possible autoimmune etiology for plasma cell tumors in man and mouse. 1) Antibody specificity of myeloma proteins. Although the true percentage of such proteins with autoantibody activity is not clear, it is certainly apparent that a significant proportion of myeloma and Waldenström macroglobulins show autoantibody specificity. This particularly includes several types of antiglobulin specificity such as a true anti-antibody activity (Warner, McKenzie and Fudenberg), and several anti-DNP myelomas with cross-reaction to γ globulin (a mouse IgG2a globulin and a human Waldenström macroglobulin). 2) Genetic susceptibility to plasma cell tumor induction. Mice of different inbred strains and hybrids were treated with three injections of mineral oil early in life. A high incidence of plasma cell tumors subsequently developed in BALB/c, NZB and (BALB/c × NZB) F1 hybrid mice.

A genetic marker in the variable region of light chains of mouse immunoglobulins.

A genetic variation was observed upon autoradiographic comparison of tryptic peptide maps of (14)C-labeled normal light chains from 17 different inbred strains of mice. The difference was found in strains AKR/J, C58/J, and RF/J. Chemical analyses showed that the differences were in a region of the amino acid sequence in the neighborhood of half-cystine I of the variable region of the light chain. Breeding experiments showed that the difference segregated in a classical Mendelian fashion.

Studies on the Induction of Immunologic Unresponsiveness

Summary The variation in the dose of ultracentrifuged human γ globulin (HGG) needed to produce an unresponsive state in different strains of inbred mice was shown to be the result of differences in the efficiency with which these strains process the trace amount of aggregated material remaining. Although mice from both C57BL/6J and BALB/cJ strains remove the aggregated material from the vascular fluids following injection of HGG, the BALB/cJ mice appear to process this material efficiently, and an immune response rather than an unresponsive state results. Conversely, C57BL/6J mice appear to process the aggregated material inefficiently, thus permitting the induction of unresponsiveness to the non-aggregated (tolerogenic) material. When the trace amount of aggregates was removed by salt fractionation, mice from both strains became unresponsive to small doses of HGG. The tolerogenic, deaggregated HGG was rendered immunogenic by chemical aggregation. The dose of HGG to which mice become unresponsive appears to be controlled by a genetic mechanism involving more than one gene. C57BL/6J mice readily became unresponsive following injections of deaggregated γG isolated from normal rabbit serum, but made an antibody response to γG (ALG) isolated from the sera of rabbits immunized with mouse thymus cells. Mice made unresponsive to deaggregated RγG did not lose their unresponsive state following injection of ALG. Within the limits of the test system that was used, no low-dose unresponsive state was observed in C57BL/6J and BALB/cJ mice injected with ultracentrifuged HGG.

Facilitation of simultaneous visual discrimination by nicotine in four "inbred" strains of mice.

Five-choice visual discrimination learning was determined in four different strains of inbred mice. All strains were able to learn this task in a small number of sessions. By distributing or massing the practice further evidence was obtained suggesting that efficient consolidation mechanisms characterize the strain DBA/2J while short-term memory characterizes C3H/He mice.

Transfer of avoidance learning in different strains of inbred mice.

Transfer of learning, i.e. the attachement of avoidance responses to new conditioned stimuli, was assessed in different strains of inbred mice trained in a shuttle-box. The transfer was evident when animals previously trained to respond to a given stimulus (tone) were subjected to a session in which a new stimulus (light) was used. The occurrence of transfer was dependent on a training session during which the animals were given an experience of a compound CS formed by a combination of the already known and the new stimulus. The importance of the genetic traits in determining the extent or the presence of the transfer was clearly evident.

Systemic Tuberculin Sensitivity in Mice

Summary Fatal tuberculin shock was observed regularly in C57Bl/6Ks mice sensitized with live bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) and challenged 3 weeks later with purified protein derivative (PPD). Specific desensitization with PPD was also achieved. The symptoms of tuberculin shock in the mouse which is typically delayed, are closed eyes, ruffled fur, lessened activity, irregular breathing, hypothermia and unconciousness. Mice of different inbred strains varied greatly in their susceptibility to active tuberculin shock, mice of the C57Bl/6Ks, NZB, and S/W strains being highly susceptible, mice of the A/Jax and NZW strains being moderately resistant, and mice of the T6 strain being highly resistant. Systemic tuberculin sensitivity was induced in C57Bl/6Ks mice with heat-killed as well as with live BCG. The interperitoneal route for sensitization was highly effective and the severity of tuberculin shock varied directly with both the sensitizing dose of BCG and the challenge dose of PPD. Sensitivity reached a peak 2 to 3 weeks after injection of BCG. The intraperitoneal and intravenous routes were found to be highly effective routes for challenge.

IN VITRO ALTERATION OF SKIN GRAFT ANTIGENICITY

Incubation together in Krebs solution of skin grafts from two different inbred strains of mice caused syngeneic grafts to behave as allo-geneic grails. Sensitization was produced by transplanting syngeneic skin which had previously been incubated with allogeneic skin. Injection of recipient mice with the medium in which allogeneic skin had been incubated also sensitized recipient mice. No prolongation of homograft, survival was achieved by incubating the grafts with skin from the recipient.

Tumor-inducing effect of hydrazine in mice.

AFTER the discovery of the experimental tumour-inducing effect of isonicotinic acid hydrazide1 several later investigations verified that this compound showed carcinogenic effects in white mice of different inbred strains when administered intraperitoneally or orally over a long period2–8. According to Mori et al.9, the carbamyl group is responsible for the cancerogenic effect of isonicotinic acid hydrazide. On the other hand, Biancifiori et al.3 are of the opinion that the hydrazine radical10 detached from the compound during the metabolic process plays a part in producing tumours. They found in their experiments that the frequency of tumours in mice of BALB/c strain caused by isonicotinic acid hydrazide or hydrazine sulphate was very high, while isonicotinic acid alone showed no carcinogenic effect.

SPLEEN CELL PROLIFERATION IN RESPONSE TO HOMOLOGOUS ANTIGENS STUDIED IN CONGENIC RESISTANT STRAINS OF MICE

The proliferative responses obtained when spleen cell suspensions from two different inbred strains of mice were mixed were investigated further using congenic resistant strain pairs. Strong responses were obtained in 9 cases out of 12 where the two strains differed at a single gene locus controlling an H-2 histocompatibility antigen. No responses were obtained where the difference occurred at loci controlling weak histocompatibility antigens. These findings have been taken to provide additional circumstantial evidence that the response represents an in vitro homograft reaction to homologous tissue antigens.

Immune cytolysis of mouse thymic lymphocytes

Summary 1.Immune cytolysis was carried out by mixing a suspension of mouse thymic lymphocytes containing 97 to 99% viable cells with complement and various dilutions of rabbit antiserum or isoantiserum. Cellular integrity was determined after incubation for 2 hr at 37° C, by use of vital staining. An end point of 50% cell deformation was employed. 2.As source of complement, hamster serum was almost nontoxic to mouse thymic lymphocytes. Two absorptions with mouse red cells and three absorptions with mouse liver removed the slight toxicity and any tendency for clumping. Guinea pig serum similarly absorbed was still slightly toxic. 3.The count of deformed cells in the assay tubes containing antiserum changed relatively little between 1 and 3 hr after the start of incubation. This could be attributed to a balance between the rate of increase in the number of stained cells and their rate of disappearance due to complete lysis. 4.Optimal conditions for assay of complement were determined. Complement titers determined with cells sensitized with varying concentrations of isoantiserum were relatively constant; in contrast, the complement requirement decreased with increasing concentrations of rabbit antiserum. This complement-sparing action of rabbit antiserum was only partially correlated with its complement-independent cytotoxicity. 5.Optimal conditions for assay of cytolysin were determined. Direct proportionality between cytolytic titer and cell concentration was obtained over a range from approximately 5 to 20 million cells/ml. There was progressive loss of proportionality at lower cell concentrations. 6.An unabsorbed rabbit antiserum to AKR thymic lymphocytes gave no evidence of specificity in its cytolysis of thymic lymphocytes taken from four different strains of inbred mice. The two isoantisera that were tested showed potent cytolysis of AKR thymic lymphocytes.

ELECTROPHORETIC PATTERNS OF HEMOGLOBIN FROM FETAL MICE OF DIFFERENT INBRED STRAINS.

Starch gel electrophoretic patterns of hemoglobins from fetal mice of seven inbred strains (two with single, five with diffuse adult hemoglobins), were compared with each other and with electrophoretic patterns of hemoglobins from adults of the same strains. The blood from 15-day-old fetuses of all strains contained four electrophoretically separable heme components. However, there seems to be a difference between strains with single and diffuse adult hemoglobin in the time of emergence of a clear adult pattern.

Transplantation of a Murine Chondrosarcoma in Mice of Different Inbred Strains

Transplantation of a Murine Chondrosarcoma in Mice of Different Inbred Strains

Immune Cytolysis of Mouse Thymic Lymphocytes

Summary Immune cytolysis was carried out by mixing a suspension of mouse thymic lymphocytes containing 97 to 99% viable cells with complement and various dilutions of rabbit antiserum or isoantiserum. Cellular integrity was determined after incubation for 2 hr at 37° C, by use of vital staining. An end point of 50% cell deformation was employed. As source of complement, hamster serum was almost nontoxic to mouse thymic lymphocytes. Two absorptions with mouse red cells and three absorptions with mouse liver removed the slight toxicity and any tendency for clumping. Guinea pig serum similarly absorbed was still slightly toxic. The count of deformed cells in the assay tubes containing antiserum changed relatively little between 1 and 3 hr after the start of incubation. This could be attributed to a balance between the rate of increase in the number of stained cells and their rate of disappearance due to complete lysis. Optimal conditions for assay of complement were determined. Complement titers determined with cells sensitized with varying concentrations of isoantiserum were relatively constant; in contrast, the complement requirement decreased with increasing concentrations of rabbit antiserum. This complement-sparing action of rabbit antiserum was only partially correlated with its complement-independent cytotoxicity. Optimal conditions for assay of cytolysin were determined. Direct proportionality between cytolytic titer and cell concentration was obtained over a range from approximately 5 to 20 million cells/ml. There was progressive loss of proportionality at lower cell concentrations. An unabsorbed rabbit antiserum to AKR thymic lymphocytes gave no evidence of specificity in its cytolysis of thymic lymphocytes taken from four different strains of inbred mice. The two isoantisera that were tested showed potent cytolysis of AKR thymic lymphocytes.