I am going to isolate murine NK cells. I see some research papers using RAG mice to isolate the cells. Why? Is it because there are more NK cells in the spleens of RAG mice? And what's the percentage?
Rearrangements of genes encoding immunoglobulins and T cell receptors in RAG KO mice are impossible. Therefore, adaptive immunity in these mice is absent. Particularly, these animals can not develop CTL response to tumor cells. CTL activity is usual hindrance to detect responses of NK cells. Both cell types show many common features (surface markers, responses to common cytokines), hampering unambiguous interpretations of data. So, using RAG KO mice allows to see NK activity without concomitant activity of CTLs. This allows obtaining much more conclusive data.
It is simply due to the fact that Rag 2 KO mice does not possess lymphocytes. It is easy to isolate NK cells.
Rearrangements of genes encoding immunoglobulins and T cell receptors in RAG KO mice are impossible. Therefore, adaptive immunity in these mice is absent. Particularly, these animals can not develop CTL response to tumor cells. CTL activity is usual hindrance to detect responses of NK cells. Both cell types show many common features (surface markers, responses to common cytokines), hampering unambiguous interpretations of data. So, using RAG KO mice allows to see NK activity without concomitant activity of CTLs. This allows obtaining much more conclusive data.
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