Reconstitution capacity of bone marrow cells from nude mice in radiation chimeras

Lethally irradiated mice were reconstituted with bone marrow cells from 'nude' or normal mice. It was found that the radioprotective capacity of bone marrow cells from normal and thymusless 'nude' mice is similar and that the immune responses to sheep red cells in radiation chimeras reconstituted with normal and nude bone marrow cells are also similar. Bone marrow cells from nude mice, in spite of the lack of the thymus, develop into hematopoietic cells and contain also T-precursor cells.