Question:medium
Nude mice are not resistant to xenografts because of the absence of which cells?
Nude mice are not resistant to xenografts because of the absence of which cells?
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Athymic mice lack maturation of which lymphocyte needed for graft rejection?
Updated On: Jun 24, 2026
- B cells
- T cells
- Both B and T cells
- None
Show Solution
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Recall the defining feature of the nude mouse - it is athymic. Step 2: A missing thymus means $T$ cell maturation fails, so the animal has essentially no functional T lymphocytes while its B cell compartment is preserved. Step 3: Transplant rejection of foreign tissue (a xenograft) depends on CD4+ and CD8+ T cells; with these absent, the mouse cannot reject the graft and the xenograft survives, which is exactly why nude mice are used to grow human tumours. Step 4: Therefore the cell type whose absence removes resistance to xenografts is the T cell.\[\boxed{\text{T cell}}\]
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