The susceptibility of inbred mice to the production of malignant thymoma by N-methyl-N-nitrosourea.
The susceptibility of inbred mice to the induction of malignant thymoma by N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) has been quantified and compared. Strain differences emerged and this was also apparent in congenic lines of C57BL/10 mice, differing at the H-2 locus. However, different strains of inbred mice, with identical H-2 haplotypes, also showed varying susceptibility to MNU, indicating that the role of the MHC was not a simple one, but apparently depended on other, undefined genes. Proficiency of repair of O6-methylguanine by thymic tissue was not responsible for these strain differences and the increased resistance to induction of thymoma by MNU in older mice was due to age-dependent changes within the thymus gland. Interestingly, the thymus of older mice, grafted with neonatal thymic tissue, still provided a suitable environment for the development of thymic tumours.
Department of Immunology, London Hospital Medical College, UK.
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Harris
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Lawley
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D006147:Guanine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism; D008285:Major Histocompatibility Complex; D008770:Methylnitrosourea / Q000633:toxicity*; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D013045:Species Specificity; D013945:Thymoma / Q000139:chemically induced*; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced*
D006147:Guanine; D008770:Methylnitrosourea; C008449:O-(6)-methylguanine