Female c57bl 6 wt b6 mice

Female C57BL/6 (wt B6) mice as well as MHC class I (β2m^−/−) and MHC class II (A_β^−/−) deficient mice on a B6 background were obtained from Taconic Farms. B cell deficient (μMT) mice were either obtained directly from The Jackson Laboratory (Bar Harbor, ME) or the local progeny of such animals. Perforin (Prf) deficient and IFN-γ deficient mice were originally obtained from The Jackson Laboratory, and IFN-γ/Perforin double-deficient (IFN-γ/Prf) mice were generated locally through intercrossing of these strains, as previously described (15 (link)). Rag 1 deficient mice (B6.129S7-Rag1^tm1Mom/J), CD40L deficient mice (B6.129P2-Cd40^tm1Kik/J) and CXCR5 deficient mice (B6.129S2(Cg)-Cxcr5^tm1Lipp/J) came directly from the Jackson Laboratory. All mice used in this study were 7 to10 weeks old and housed in a specific pathogen–free facility. All experiments were approved by the national animal ethics committee and performed in accordance with national guidelines.