Gene-Edited Mice for Immunology Research

WT C57BL/6J (stock no. 000664) mice were purchased from Jackson Laboratories and maintained at Washington University School of Medicine under specific-pathogen-free conditions according to University guidelines. Rag2^−/−Il2rg^−/− mice were generated at Washington University School of Medicine by crossing of Il2rg^−/− (B6.129S4-Il2rg^tm1Wjl/J, catalogue no. 003174) mice from Jackson Laboratories with Rag2^−/− (B6.129S6-Rag2^tm1FwaN12, catalogue no. RAGN12) mice from Taconic. Rag2^−/−Il2rg^−/−Ifnlr1^−/− mice were generated as previously described^{9 (link)}. Rag2^−/−Il2rg^−/− mice from Taconic were used directly for experiments on arrival at Washington University facilities. Math1^f/f mice were crossed to transgenic mice bearing a tamoxifen-dependent Cre recombinase expressed under the control of the Villin promoter (Vil-Cre-ERT2)^{30 (link)} to generate Math1^f/f-Vil-Cre-ERT2 mice as previously described^{21 (link)}. Germ-free Swiss Webster mice were purchased from Taconic Biosciences and maintained in sterile, flexible-film plastic gnotobiotic isolators at the Washington University School of Medicine Gnotobiotic Facility. Equal ratios of adult male and female mice, aged 6 to 12 weeks, were used in all experiments for all strains. Experimental mice were co-housed with up to five mice of the same sex per cage with autoclaved standard chow pellets and water provided ad libitum.