Immunological properties of athymic nude mice born from homozygous (nu/nu) parents.

No significant differences were observed between nude mice (nu/nu) born of homozygous (nu/nu) parents and those born of heterozygous (nu/+) mothers in the percentage of Thy-1-positive cells or immunoglobulin (Ig)-bearing cells in the spleen as assessed by immunofluorescence. There were no significant differences in the antibody response to thymus-dependent antigen or in the number of background plaque-forming cells to this antigen. The antibody response to thymus-independent antigen was not imparied at all in mice born from homozygous parents as compared with other nude mice or euthymic mice. It was concluded that the Thy-1-bearing (T) cells observed in nu/nu mice and the capacity of these mice to respond to thymus-dependent antigens arose independently of maternal T cells and of the influence of the maternal thymus.