NIH-III Nude Mouse

Most commonly called the NIH-III, it was developed at NIH. In addition to the nude gene, which results in the absence of thymus and T-cell function, this mouse has two other mutations important in regulating the function of the immune system. These are designated as x-linked immune defect (xid) and beige (bg). The xid mutation affects the maturation of T-independent B lymphocytes. It has been demonstrated that bg homozygotes have defective natural killer (NK) cells that are cytotoxic in vitro to tumor cells. However, the extent of the T-independent B lymphocyte and NK cell deficiencies in the NIH-III have not been established.The control model for the NIH-III nude mouse is the heterozygous NIH-III-HE mouse.