| Description |
SWR/J mice are used widely in research as a general purpose
strain. Aging mice exhibit a high incidence of lung and
mammary gland tumors. They also develop extreme polydipsia
and polyuria (nephrogenic diabetes insipidus) with
increasing age. SWR/J mice are highly susceptible to
experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE). Germline
deletion of about 50% of T-cell receptor V beta-chain gene
segments and a T-cell receptor V alpha polymorphism are
responsible for the resistance of SWR/J mice to collagen
type II-induced arthritis. SWR/J mice show an intermediate
susceptibility to developing atherosclerotic aortic lesions
(1670 to 1690 um2 atherosclerotic aortic lesions/aortic
cross-section) following 14 weeks on an atherogenic diet
(1.25% cholesterol, 0.5% cholic acid and 15% fat). SWR/J
mice have been recommended for generation and propogation of
transgenic mice because they are high responders to
exogenous hormones, have large and prominant pronuclei with
good resistance to lysis following microinjection, and are
genetically well-defined. SWR/J mice may also be used as
controls for comparison to the autoimmune diabetic
NOD/ShiLtJ mice (Stock No. 001976), especially for
experiments examining the aberrant immune functions of
NOD/ShiLtJ mice. Both NOD and SWR/J mice are derived from
Swiss mice. SWR/J are in some cases more suitable than
random bred Swiss ICR mice because of their genetic
uniformity. Unlike NOD/ShiLtJ mice they are not
immunocompromised, and they are genetically very different
from NOD. SWR/J mice appear to be the only inbred carrying
the allele Soaa (Taster) characterized by avoidance of
sucrose octaacetate solutions at low concentrations (<
10-3M).
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