NSG® Variants Portfolio

NSG (NOD scid gamma) mice are the foundational platform for developing humanized models capable of replicating a myriad of in vivo immune cell and tumor combinatorial environments. As such, these are the models of choice for a range of research areas, with thousands of publications in support of immuno-oncology, autoimmunity, metabolics, neurobiology, cardiovascular and infectious disease studies.

Optimize your study design when you select models which carry transgenic expression of critical cytokines, targeted gene knockouts, or combinations of both:

Cytokine expression - models express critical cytokines that support development and long-term stability of immune cell types
Knockout of Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) Types I & II to significantly decrease the development of GvHD upon human cell or tumor engraftment
Advanced immunodeficient strains for HSC engraftment, where targeted gene mutations (e.g. c-Kit receptor) enable cell engraftment without irradiation

NSG models are available in a variety of ways to order, from off-the-shelf options to highly-customizable options and combinations of cell-and tumor-engraftment. Models can be shipped to your research institute or may be enrolled directly into a JAX Preclinical Services Study.

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Comparison of NSG Mouse Model Variants

Strain Names	Model Benefits	Strain Considerations	Reference
NSG* (005557)	Successful xenografts of human tumors and primary cells T cell-dependent inflammatory responses Optimal human hematopoietic stem cell engraftment (Sirpa allele) No scid-associated leakiness No thymic lymphoma (long lifespan >22 months)	scid side effects: radiation sensitivity; genotoxic drugs may have higher toxicity Immature B Cell development	Stokol et al., 2026 Gudenas et al., 2026 Chong et al., 2026
NSG-SGM3 (013062)	Enhanced human myelopoiesis and terminal differentiation on HSC engraftment Increased efficiency of engrafting human acute myeloid leukemia (AML) Increased CD4+ FoxP3+ regulatory T cells on HSC engraftment	scid side effects: radiation sensitivity; genotoxic drugs may have higher toxicity Immature B Cell development Macrophage Activated Syndrome Compromised human stem cell regeneration Suppression of human erythropoiesis Reduction of human B-lymphopoiesis	Thibodeau et al., 2026 Tandaric et al., 2026 Khanal et al., 2025
NSG-FLT3 (033367) CD34 Humanized Data	Improved development of dendritic cells (cDCs and pDCs), monocytes, NK cells and mucosal immune system, upon HSC engraftment	scid side effects: radiation sensitivity; genotoxic drugs may have higher toxicity Immature B Cell development	Yang et al., 2026 Dreaden et al., 2025
NSG-SGM3-IL15 (033216) CD34 Humanized Data	Expression of human IL15 enhances the development of human NK cells. This strain may be useful for studying immunotherapies targeting NK cells and NK cell function in tumorigenesis.	scid side effects: radiation sensitivity; genotoxic drugs may have higher toxicity Immature B Cell development Macrophage activated Syndrome	Dreaden et al., 2025
New NSG-FLT3-IL15 (037322) CD34 Humanized Data	Enhanced reconstitution of T cells, Tregs, myeloid cells, and mature natural killer cells High expression of conventional and plasmacytoid dendritic cells Diversity of immune cell models enables evaluation of combinatorial therapies that target T cells, NK cells, and relevant tumor microenvironment cells	scid side effects: radiation sensitivity; genotoxic drugs may have higher toxicity Immature B Cell development
NSG-MHC I/II DKO (025216)	Mouse MHC knockouts provide delayed GvHD response, with study durations up to 90 days post PBMC engraftment T cell-dependent inflammatory responses Extended human IgG half-life compared to B2m knockouts	scid side effects: radiation sensitivity; genotoxic drugs may have higher toxicity Immature B Cell development	Snook et al., 2026 Tsai et al., 2026 Liu et al., 2025 Moore et al., 2025
New NSG-SGM3-IL15-DKO (037320) PBMC Humanized Data	Expression of a complex immune cell profile, including myeloid, NK, T cell and mature B cell populations Ideal for evaluation of therapies such as T cell engagers or in vivo CAR T studies in a more complex human immune cell environment Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) I/II gene knockouts delay GvHD, enabling an experimental study window of 75-100 days Repeatable studies with Reserved Pre-Characterized PBMCs from JAX	scid side effects: radiation sensitivity; genotoxic drugs may have higher toxicity No de novo IgG secretion
NBSGW (026622)	Human CD34 cells engraft effectively without preconditioning irradiation Longer lifespan than other immunodeficient Kit mutants Increased human erythroid cells (bone marrow)	Although irradiation is not required for stem cell engraftment, NBSGW mice likely share the same sensitivity to genotoxic agents as other NSG strains	Chhan et al., 2026 Mejia-Ramirez et al., 2026 Park et al., 2025 Nikeghbal et al., 2025
NRG (007799)	Long-term multilineage hematopoeitic stem cell repopulation similar to NSG mice T cell-dependent inflammatory responses Engrafts human PBMC without irradiation similar to NSG Engrafts a wide range of solid and hematological cancers Greater tolerance to genotoxic agents compared to NSG	Resistant to irradiation Resistant to genotoxic drugs Optimal human hematopoietic stem cell engraftment (Sirpa allele) No scid-associated leakiness Longer life span than NOD scid (> 22 months) Requires higher dose of irradiation to obtain human HSC engraftment The serum half-life of human IgG is greatly reduced in NSG-B2m due to defective FcRn function Immature B Cell development	Kunika et al., 2025 Alshiraihi et al., 2025 Kumari et al., 2023
NSG-A2 (009617)	High engraftment of HLA-A2-restricted immune cells after CD34+ humanization Antibody responses improved in a Dengue virus infection model Allow HLA restriction of developing human CD8 cells in humanized models, and provide improved platforms for viral infection and vaccine models	scid side effects: radiation sensitivity; genotoxic drugs may have higher toxicity Immature B Cell development	Xue et al., 2024 Kalinina et al., 2024
NSG-HLA-A2/HHD (014570)	Enable functional CD4+ T cell responses to viral infection after CD34+ humanization Permit HLA restriction and enhance immune responses of human CD8 T cells Antibody responses improved in a Dengue virus infection model	scid side effects: radiation sensitivity; genotoxic drugs may have higher toxicity Immature B Cell development	O'Brien et al., 2025 Boardman et al., 2025 Wardell et al., 2025
NSG-DR1 (012479)	Useful for transplantation studies in the absence of xeno-GVHD	scid side effects: radiation sensitivity; genotoxic drugs may have higher toxicity Immature B Cell development Reduced CD45+ cell engraftment compared to NSG	Serreze et al., 2025
NSG-Ab^o DR4 (017637)	Useful for transplantation studies in the absence of xeno-GVHD Develop allo-GVHD post-engraftment of DR4-negative CD4+ T cells Show enhanced antibody responses, and human CD4+ T cells interact more effectively with human antigen presenting cells	Reduced CD45+ cell engraftment compared to NSG Higher proportion of mice with no CD45+ cell engraftment as compared to NSG	Serreze et al., 2025 Aron et al., 2022
NSG B2m (010636)	Resistant to xeno-GVHD Useful for studying mechanisms for xeno-GVHD	scid side effects: radiation sensitivity; genotoxic drugs may have higher toxicity Immature B Cell development	Kumari et al., 2023 Apriamashvili et al., 2022
NSG-(K^bD^b)^null (023848)	Attenuated xeno-GVHD development post-Hu-PBMC transplantation High Hu-CD45+ cell engraftment Useful for studying mechanisms for xeno-GVHD	Reduced survival post Hu-CD34+ cell transplantation compared to NSG mice	Shultz et al., 2019
NSG-PiZ (028842)	Engrafts human and allogeneic mouse hepatocytes without rejection	scid side effects: radiation sensitivity; genotoxic drugs may have higher toxicity Immature B Cell development	Monian et al., 2026 Smith et al., 2024 Lu et al., 2024
NSG-TLR4 KO (033704)	Residual mouse innate immune system cannot respond to Tlr4 agonists After humanization, NSG-Tlr4 KO are ideal for studying human TLR4-specific responses against tumors	scid side effects: radiation sensitivity; genotoxic drugs may have higher toxicity Immature B Cell development	Aryee et al., 2023

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