Contex
Crossing New Zealand Black (NZB) and New Zealand White (NZW) mice generates one of the most studied animal models of human systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Genetic analyses have revealed that this model shares with human lupus a complex genetic basis. One locus that is consistently linked with lupus traits is the distal chromosome 1 locus known as the Nba2 locus (New Zealand black autoimmunity 2). In this paper the Nba2 locus was investigated for the presence of susceptibility genes. Nonautoimmune C57BL/1 (B6) mice were made congenic for Nba2. Subsequently, the congenic mice were crossed with NZW mice. Spleen cells from the B6.Nba2 animals were used to screen for candidate genes using oligonucleotide microarrays.