Comparative study of human hematopoietic cell engraftment into BALB/c and C57BL/6 strain of rag-2/jak3 double-deficient mice.

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.