The nonobese diabetic seid mouse: Model for spontaneous thymomagenesis associated with immunodeficiency

Homozygosity for the severe combined immunodeficiency (scid) mutation results in a block in T- and B-lymphocyte development. An unusually high incidence of spontaneous thymic lymphoma development was observed after transfer of this mutation from the C.B-17 congenic strain background onto the diabetes-susceptible nonobese diabetic (NOD) background. Thymomagenesis in the NOD-scid/scid mouse was associated with expression of an NOD mouse-unique endogenous ecotropic murine leukemia provirus locus (Emv-30, mapped to proximal region of chromosome 11) not expressed in the standard substrain NOD/Lt thymus. All tumors exhibited insertions of ecotropic proviruses, whereas only a subset also exhibited proviral integrations of mink cell focusforming retrovirus. Neither class of retrovirus was associated with consistent integration into genes previously associated with activation of oncogenesis. We propose that the unusual features of T-cell ontogeny characteristic of the NOD inbred strain synergize with the scid-imparted block in thymocyte development, leading to activation of the NOD-unique Emv-30 to initiate thymomagenesis. (.