Assessment of lymphocyte development in radiation bone marrow chimeras.

Transplantation of marrow between mouse strains congenic for CD45 after lethal irradiation establishes hematopoiesis driven by genetically marked cells in recipient animals. After several weeks, peripheral blood or primary and secondary lymphoid organs of transplant recipients can be evaluated for the presence of donor-derived cells. Two- or three-color flow cytometry can be used to identify the progeny of transplanted cells, to document their cell-surface phenotypes, and to follow development of T, B, and myeloid lineages in vivo.