@article {Kerre1620, author = {Kerre, Tessa C. C. and De Smet, Greet and De Smedt, Magda and Zippelius, Alfred and Pittet, Mika{\"e}l J. and Langerak, Anton W. and De Bosscher, Jos{\'e} and Offner, Fritz and Vandekerckhove, Bart and Plum, Jean}, title = {Adapted NOD/SCID model supports development of phenotypically and functionally mature T cells from human umbilical cord blood CD34+ cells}, volume = {99}, number = {5}, pages = {1620--1626}, year = {2002}, doi = {10.1182/blood.V99.5.1620}, publisher = {American Society of Hematology}, abstract = {The NOD-LtSZ scid/scid (NOD/SCID) repopulation assay is the criterion for the study of self-renewal and multilineage differentiation of human hematopoietic stem cells. An important shortcoming of this model is the reported absence of T-cell development. We studied this aspect of the model and investigated how it could be optimized to support T-cell development. Occasionally, low-grade thymic engraftment was observed in NOD/SCID mice or Rag2-/-γc -/- mice. In contrast, the treatment of NOD/SCID mice with a monoclonal antibody against the murine interleukin-2Rβ, (IL-2Rβ) known to decrease natural killer cell activity, resulted in human thymopoiesis in up to 60\% of the mice. T-cell development was phenotypically normal and resulted in polyclonal, mature, and functional CD1-TCRαβ+ CD4+ or CD8+single-positive T cells. In mice with ongoing thymopoiesis, peripheral T cells were observed. TREC analysis showed that T cells with a naive phenotype (CD45RA+) emerged from the thymus. In approximately half of these mice, the peripheral T cells included a pauciclonal outgrowth of CD45RO+ cells. These data suggest that all elements of a functional immune system were present in these animals.}, issn = {0006-4971}, URL = {http://www.bloodjournal.org/content/99/5/1620}, eprint = {http://www.bloodjournal.org/content/99/5/1620.full.pdf}, journal = {Blood} }