Phenotype and function of hematopoietic‐derived cells in the CNS of SCID mouse‐lewis rat bone marrow chimeras

Severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice previously transplanted with Lewis rat hematopoietic cells (SCID mouse‐Lewis rat chimeras) developed experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) following injection with myelin basic protein (BP)‐specific Lewis rat T lymphocytes. Rat T cells did not cause EAE in non‐chimeric SCID mice. Thus, in addition to BP‐specific rat T cells, transplanted rat hematopoietic cells were involved in the development of EAE in SCID mice.