Green fluorescent protein-transgenic mice: immune functions and their application to studies of lymphocyte development

Green fluorescent protein (GFP) transgenic (GFP(+)) mice express GFP in most tissues except erythrocytes and hair. Immune responses of GFP(+) mouse and their application to studies of lymphocyte development were investigated. Flow cytometric analyses revealed that differentiation patterns of lymphocytes from GFP(+) mice are equivalent to those from parental C57BL/6 mice. There was no difference in mature T-cell proliferative ability in response to allogeneic stimulator cells or anti-CD3 epsilon stimulation between GFP(+) and C57BL/6 mice. Furthermore, the anti-OVA antibody response of GFP(+) mice was also the same as that of C57BL/6 mice. Taken together, these results show no immunological differences between GFP(+) and C57BL/6 mice. Bone marrow transplantation and in vitro thymus reconstitution experiments were performed in an attempt to apply the GFP(+) mice to the analysis of lymphocyte development. When bone marrow cells from GFP(+) mice were transplanted, T and B lymphocytes containing GFP developed normally in scid recipients. Next we examined intrathymic T-cell development by hanging drop culture methods. GFP(+) and CD4(+)8(+) immature T-cells developed normally from bone marrow cells in the reconstituted thymus. The experimental system using hematopoietic cells from GFP(+) mice is a powerful tool for visualizing lymphocyte development. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.