Myeloid Engraftment in Humanized Mice: Impact of Granulocyte-Colony Stimulating Factor Treatment and Transgenic Mouse Strain

Poor myeloid engraftment remains a barrier to experimental use of humanized mice. Focusing primarily on peripheral blood cells, we compared the engraftment profile of NOD-scid-IL2R gamma c(-/-) (NSG) mice with that of NSG mice transgenic for human membrane stem cell factor (hu-mSCF mice), NSG mice transgenic for human interleukin (IL)-3, granulocyte-macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and stem cell factor (SGM3 mice). hu-mSCF and SGM3 mice showed enhanced engraftment of human leukocytes compared to NSG mice, and this was reflected in the number of human neutrophils and monocytes present in these strains. Importantly, discrete classical, intermediate, and nonclassical monocyte populations were identifiable in the blood of NSG and hu-mSCF mice, while the nonclassical population was absent in the blood of SGM3 mice. Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (GCSF) treatment increased the number of blood monocytes in NSG and hu-mSCF mice, and neutrophils in NSG and SGM3 mice; however, this effect appeared to be at least partially dependent on the stem cell donor used to engraft the mice. Furthermore, GCSF treatment resulted in a preferential expansion of nonclassical monocytes in both NSG and hu-mSCF mice. Human tubulointerstitial CD11c(+) cells were present in the kidneys of hu-mSCF mice, while monocytes and neutrophils were identified in the liver of all strains. Bone marrow-derived macrophages prepared from NSG mice were most effective at phagocytosing polystyrene beads. In conclusion, hu-mSCF mice provide the best environment for the generation of human myeloid cells, with GCSF treatment further enhancing peripheral blood human monocyte cell numbers in this strain.