Adoptive transfer of viable motheaten pathology in sublethally irradiated beige recipient mice.

B6 viable motheaten (mev) mice are short-living autoimmune and immunodeficient mice. Most of the mev pathology is transferable into the B6 beige (bg) irradiated mouse by injection of mev haematopoietic cells. Indeed there is a rapid establishment of lung damage, thymus aplasia, inflammation and necrosis of peripheral joints, an increase of serological IgM concentrations and autoantibody levels as well as a rapid death. This mev-type pathology can be again obtained by transferring haematopoietic cells of these [mev----bg] chimeras into other irradiated bg mice, although the appearance of these serological and phenotypical symptoms seems to be more and more delayed when doing cascade transfers.