ST

Inbr.(J) 143. Albino a,b,c. Origin: Englebreth-Holm from outbred Danish white mice in about 1940. To Heston in 1947 at F23. Two major substrains are known which differ at the H2 locus. These were separated after more than eight generations of sib-mating.

ST/a

See above. This is the H2^b substrain which is not so widely used.

ST/b

See above. H2^k substrain. Maint. by J,N.

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Characteristics

Life-span in conventional conditions short (5/22 = 433 days in males, 9/22 = 511 days in females), but low gross tumour incidence (21/22 in females, 19/22 in males) (Storer, 1966).

High preference for sweet tasting substances (saccharin, sucrose,dulcin and acesulfame, averaged) (2/26) (Lush 1988). Low metabolic rate (17/18) (Storer, 1967). Low serum ceruloplasmin levels in females (27/27), but intermediate levels in males (Meier and MacPike, 1968). Large spinal cord (3/25) (Roderick et al., 1973., 1973). Low thyroid weight (5/5) (Mendoza et al., 1967., 1967). Low haemoglobin per ml blood (18/18) (Russell et al., 1951., 1951). Susceptible to skin ulceration by DMBA (cf. 13/22) (Thomas et al., 1973., 1973). Resistant to X-irradiation (4/27) (Roderick, 1963). Short survival in 90% oxygen (10/10), but high susceptibility to pulmonary hyaline-membrane formation (2/10) (Lieberman and Kellog, 1967). Resistant to chloroform toxicity (cf. 5/9) (Deringer et al., 1953., 1953). Resistant to experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (cf. 7/18) (Levine and Sowinski, 1973). Erythrocytes have low agglutinability (cf. 11/25) in b substrain (Rubinstein et al., 1974., 1974). Susceptible to Plasmodium berghei infection (2/8) (Most et al., 1966., 1966). Resistant to seizures induced by nicotine (1/19) (Marks et al 1989). Low self-selection of nicotine (6/6) which is inversely correlated with sensitivity to nicotine-induced seizures (Robinson et al, 1996). Resistance may be related to brain alpha-bungarotoxin binding, which is significantly higher in ST/b than in sensitive DBA/2 mice (Marks et al, 1996). Defect in the expression of the alloantigen, Ly6C, which is not detectable on spleen or lymph node cells (c.f. NOD and NZB but contrast most other strains) and may be due to an interruption in the flanking region of the Ly6C gene at a point 475 bp upstream of the transcription initiation site, as found in NOD (Philbrick et al 1990).

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Deringer M. K., Dunn T. B., and Heston W. E. (1953) Results of exposure of strain C3H mice to chloroform. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 83, 474-479.

Levine S. and Sowinski R. (1973) Experimental allergic encephelomyelitis in inbred and outbred mice. J. Immunol. 110, 139-143.

Lieberman J. and Kellog F. (1967) Hyaline-membrane formation and pulmonary plasminogen-activator activity in various strains of mice. Pediatrics 39, 75-81.

Lush I.M. (1988) The genetics of tasting in mice. VI. Saccharin, acesulfame, dulcin and sucrose. Genet. Res. 53, 95-99.

Marks M. J., Stitzel J. A., and Collins A. C. (1989) Genetic influences on nicotine responses. Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 33, 667-678.

Marks M. J., Pauly J. R., Grun E. U., and Collins A. C. (1996) ST/b and DBA/2 mice differ in brain alpha-bungarotoxin binding and alpha-7 nicotinic receptor subunit messenger-RNA levels - a quantitative autoradiographic analysis. Molecular Brain Research 39, 207-222.

Meier H. and MacPike A. D. (1968) Levels and heritability of serum ceruloplasmin activity in inbred strains of mice. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 128, 1185-1190.

Mendoza L. A., Hamburg M., and Fuld H. (1967) Differences in thyroid activity in several inbred strains of mice. Anat. Rec. 158, 275-280.

Most H., Nussenzweig R. S., Vanderberg J., Herman R., and Yoeli M. (1966) Susceptibility of genetically standardized (JAX) mouse strains to sporozoite and blood-induced Plasmodium berghei infections. Mil. Med. 131, 915-918.

Philbrick W. M., Maher S. E., Bridgett M. M., and Bothwell A. L. (1990) A recombination event in the 5' flanking region of the Ly-6C gene correlates with impaired expression in the NOD, NZB and ST strains of mice. EMBO Journal 9, 2485-2492.

Robinson S. F., Marks M. J., and Collins A. C. (1996) Inbred mouse strains vary in oral self-selection of nicotine. Psychopharmacology 124, 332-339.

Roderick T. H., Wimer R. E., Wimer C. C., and Schwartzkroin P. A. (1973) Genetic and phenotypic variation in weight of brain and spinal cord between inbred strains of mice. Brain Res. 64, 345-353.

Roderick T. H. (1963) The response of twenty-seven inbred strains of mice to daily doses of whole-body X-irradiation. Radiation Res. 20, 631-639.

Rubinstein P., Liu N., Strenn E. W., and Decary F. (1974) Electrophoretic mobility and agglutinability of red blood cells: a `new' polymorphism in mice. J. Exp. Med. 139, 313-322.

Russell E. S., Neufeld E. F., and Higgins C. T. (1951) Comparison of normal blood picture of young adults from 18 inbred strains of mice. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 78, 761-766.

Storer J. B. (1966) Longevity and gross pathology at death in 22 inbred strains of mice. J. Gerontol. 21, 404-409.

Storer J. B. (1967) Relation of lifespan to brain weight, body weight and metabolic rate among inbred mouse strains. Exp. Gerontol. 2, 173-182.

Thomas P. E., Hutton J. J., and Taylor B. A. (1973) Genetic relationship between aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase inducibility and chemical carcinogen induced skin ulceration in mice. Genetics 74, 655-659.

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INBRED STRAINS OF MICE
Updated 9 Apr. 1998
Michael FW Festing
MRC Toxicology Unit, Hodgkin Building,
University of Leicester, UK