Prolonged Survival of Implanting Rat Blastocysts in the Uterus of Congenitally Athymic Mice

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Abstract
Rat blastocysts were transferred to the uteri of either immunodeficient, congenitally athymic (nu/nu) ‘nude’ mice or immunocompetent, heterozygous (nu/+) mice. Histological analysis showed that there was a similar frequency of implanted blastocysts in the two types of mice, that blastocysts transferred to nude athymic mice outlived those in heterozygous controls by at least 3 days, and that blastocysts in nude mice showed delayed and abnormal development and were eventually rejected. These findings suggest that the T‐cell deficiency in nude mice may prolong the survival of implanting blastocyst but that other immune or non‐immune factors still limit their development.