ABSTRACT
The recessive allelic genes motheaten (me) or viable motheaten (me) occurred spontaneously in C57BL/6J mice at the Jackson Laboratory. The new mutation was termed viable motheaten because homozygotes showed a threefold increase in longevity compared to me/me mice. Viable motheaten mice develop focal cutaneous abscesses by 4 weeks of age. The mice grow slowly compared to littermate controls during a maximum life span of 25 weeks. The kidneys of viable motheaten and motheaten mice develop glomerular hypercellularity by 10 weeks of age. Testes from viable motheaten mice had neutrophilic interstitial infiltration as early as 11 days of age. While the transfer of me/me bone marrow provides a model system to study mechanisms of acute pulmonary injury, the transfer of me/me bone marrow facilitates the study of the role of hematopoietic progenitor cells in the chronic disease of these mice.
