NOD/SCID mice transplanted with marrow from patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) show long-term propagation of normal but not clonal human precursors.

Sublethally irradiated NOD/SCID mice were transplanted with hematopoietic progenitor cells obtained from the marrow of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Engraftment of MDS cells, as determined by flow cytometry, was delayed compared to marrow from normal donors. Human CD38(+)CD34(-) cells were prominent in marrows and spleens of MDS chimeras.