C3H/HeJ mice, commonly called C3H, are used as a general purpose strain in a wide variety of research areas including cancer, infectious disease, sensorineural, and cardiovascular biology research. A spontaneous mutation in Tlr4 occurred in C3H/HeJ at the lipopolysaccharide response locus (mutation in toll-like receptor 4 gene, Tlr4Lps-d) making C3H/HeJ mice more resistant to endotoxin. C3H/HeJ mice are highly susceptible to infection by Gram-negative bacteria such as Salmonella enterica. The C3H substrains at The Jackson Laboratory are homozygous for the retinal degeneration 1 mutation (Pde6brd1), causing blindness by weaning age.
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This strain does not carry mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV). This strain is homozygous for retinal degeneration allele Pde6brd1, the defective lipopolysaccharide response allele Tlr4Lps-d, and for a chromosomal inversion on Chromosome 6. A sighted alternative is Stock No. 003648, C3Sn.BLiA-Pde6b+/DnJ.
C3H/HeJ mice are used as a general purpose strain in a wide variety of research areas including cancer, immunology and inflammation, sensorineural, and cardiovascular biology. C3H/HeJ mice and all other Jackson substrains are homozygous for the retinal degeneration 1 mutation (Pde6brd1), which causes blindness by weaning age, but lack the nob5 allele of Gpr179 (Chang, 2015). White belly spots, ranging in phenotype from a few white hairs to a defined spot are common in C3H/HeJ mice. There is also a high incidence of hepatomas in C3H mice (reportedly 72-91% in males at 14 months, 59% in virgin females, 30-38% in breeding females). Despite the lack of exogenous mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV), virgin and breeding females may still develop some mammary tumors later in life. C3H/HeJ mice, fed an atherogenic diet (1.25% cholesterol, 0.5% cholic acid and 15% fat), fail to develop atherosclerotic aortic lesions in contrast to several highly susceptible strains of mice (e.g. C57BL/6J, Stock No. 000664; C57L/J, Stock No. 000668, C57BR/cdJ, Stock No. 000667, and SM/J, Stock No. 000687). C3H/HeJ mice spontaneously develop alopecia areata (AA) at a reported incidence of approximately 0.25% by 5 months of age. In older mice (12-18 months old), incidences as high as approximately 20% are reported. Females as young as 3-5 months can develop AA, but onset typically is delayed until after 6 months in males. Alopecia areata can be surgically-induced by grafting a small piece of skin from an older, donor animal with AA onto a younger, isogenic C3H/HeJ recipient.
A spontaneous mutation occurred in C3H/HeJ at the lipopolysaccharide response locus (later identified as a mutation in the toll-like receptor 4 gene, Tlr4Lps-d) making C3H/HeJ mice endotoxin resistant. C3H/HeJ (Tlr4Lps-d) mice are highly susceptible to infection by Gram-negative bacteria such as Salmonella enterica. Mice infected with Salmonella exhibit delayed chemokine production, impaired nitric oxide generation and attenuated cellular immune responses. Mortality in infected mice appears to result from enhanced bacterial growth within the liver Kupffer cell network (Vazquez-Torres et al., 2004).
The C3H/HeJ substrain is homozygous for an inversion on Chromosome 6 (symbol: In(6)1J). The inversion covers 20% of Chromosome 6 between D6Mit124 (~30.3 cM) and D6Mit150 (~51.0 cM), but results in no reported phenotype. Results from screening other C3H substrains and cryopreserved stock from C3H/HeJ suggest that the mutation arose after 1952. The spontaneous mutation, spike wave discharge 1 (Gria4spkw1), is present in C3H/HeJ, but not C3HeB/FeJ. Mice homozygous for this mutation exhibit a modest incidence of absence seizures. This strain is also homozygous for a hypomorphic allele in Pcnx2, which is caused by an IAP insertion and which dampens the severity of the absence seizure phenotype caused by Gria4spkw1 (Frankel et al., 2014).
The C3H parent strain was developed by LC Strong in 1920 from a cross of a Bagg albino female with a DBA male followed by selection for high incidence of mammary tumors. This high incidence resulted from exogenous mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) transmitted through the mother's milk. The Jackson Laboratory maintains four C3H substrains, C3H/HeJ (Stock No. 000659), C3H/HeOuJ (Stock No. 000635), C3HeB/FeJ (Stock No. 000658) and C3H/HeSnJ (Stock No. 000661) that are now free of exogenous MMTV. C3H/HeJ and C3H/HeOuJ mice previously carried MMTV but were rederived in 1999 during planned efforts to increase the overall health status of the mice and the virus was not reintroduced. C3H/HeJ and C3H/HeOuJ substrains were separated in 1952 and are genetically very similar. However, a spontaneous mutation occurred in C3H/HeJ sometime between 1960 and 1968 at lipopolysaccharide response locus (mutation in toll-like receptor 4 gene, Tlr4lps) making C3H/HeJ mice endotoxin resistant while the other three C3H strains are endotoxin sensitive.
Allele Name | retinal degeneration 1 |
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Allele Type | Spontaneous |
Allele Synonym(s) | Pdebrd1; rd; rd1; rd-1; rodless retina |
Gene Symbol and Name | Pde6b, phosphodiesterase 6B, cGMP, rod receptor, beta polypeptide |
Gene Synonym(s) | |
Strain of Origin | various |
Chromosome | 5 |
General Note | The following inbred strains are known to be homozygous for Pde6b |
Molecular Note | Two mutations have been identified in rd1 mice. A murine leukimia virus (Xmv-28) insertion in reverse orientation in intron 1 is found in all mouse strains with the rd1 phenotype. Further, a nonsense mutation (C-to-A transversion) in codon 347 that results in a truncation eliminating more than half of the predicted encoded protein, including the catalytic domain, has been identified in all rd1 strains of mice. A specific degradation of mutant transcript during or after pre-mRNA splicing is suggested. |
Allele Name | defective lipopolysaccharide response |
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Allele Type | Spontaneous |
Allele Synonym(s) | lpsd; mutant TLR4; TlrLps-d; Tlr4-; Tlr4d; TLR4lps-def; TLR4d; TLR4-M; TLR4-Mu |
Gene Symbol and Name | Tlr4, toll-like receptor 4 |
Gene Synonym(s) | |
Strain of Origin | C3H/HeJ |
Chromosome | 4 |
General Note | C3H/HeJ mice carry this allele. Various combinations of Lps-associated traits have been followed in crosses between C3H/HeJ and other C3H substrains, and the traits have in all cases segregated together (J:30692, J:5557, J:5593, J:5938). Some of the traits show dominance of the Tlr4lps-n allele; others, including Tlr4Lps-d, show codominance. Genbank ID for this allele: AF095353 |
Molecular Note | This allele corresponds to a mutation in the third exon of the gene. A C-to-A substitution at coding tide position 2135 (c.2135C>A) results in an amino acid substitution that replaces proline with histidine at position 712 (p.P712H). |
Allele Name | b-2 variant |
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Allele Type | Not Applicable |
Allele Synonym(s) | Ahb-2; Ahh |
Gene Symbol and Name | Ahr, aryl-hydrocarbon receptor |
Gene Synonym(s) | |
Strain of Origin | BALB/cBy |
Chromosome | 12 |
General Note | C57BL/6 carries the responsive Ahrb allele; DBA/2 carries nonresponsive Ahrd. Heterozygotes (Ahrb/Ahrd) are responsive (J:5282). Later work identified a second (J:8895) and later a third (J:22144) allele conferring response. Thus the allele in C57, C58, and MA/My strains is now Ahrb-1; Ahrb-2 is carried by BALB/cBy, A, and C3H; and Ahrb-3 by Mus spretus, M. caroli, and MOLF/Ei. The nonresponsive strains AKR, DBA/2, and 129 carry Ahrd (J:22144). Nucleotide and amino acid sequence differences between Ahrb-1 and Ahrd have been determined (J:17460). Strain of origin - this allele was found in BALB/cByJ, A/J, C3H/HeJ, CBA strains |
Molecular Note | This allele encodes a high affinity, heat labile, 104 kDa receptor containing 848 amino acids. Sequencing studies of cDNA from C57BL/6J congenic mice homozygous for this allele identified nucleotide substitutions in the ORF that would cause 5 amino acid differences between the C57BL/6J and BALB/cBy peptides, and 2 amino acid differences between the BALB/cBy and DBA/2J peptides. A T to C transition in exon 11 replaces the opal termination codon in the C57BL/6J allele with an arginine codon in the BALB/cBy allele. This change would extend translation of the BALB/cBy mRNA by 43 amino acids, accounting for the larger size of the peptide produced by this allele (104 kDa, vs 95 kDa for the C57BL/6J allele). |
Allele Name | inversion, Chr 6, Jackson 1 |
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Allele Type | Spontaneous |
Allele Synonym(s) | |
Gene Symbol and Name | In(6)1J, inversion, Chr 6, Jackson 1 |
Gene Synonym(s) | |
Strain of Origin | C3H/HeJ |
Chromosome | 6 |
General Note | C3H/HeJ and C3H/HeJBir carry this inversion; C3H/HeSnJ and C3HeB/FeJ do not. Examination of recombination distances in Recombinant Inbred (RI) strain sets developed using C3H/HeJ as a progenitor suggest none of these harbor the inversion. Mouse strains carrying spontaneous mutations that arose on the C3H/HeJ background after 1965-1970 could carry the inversion and are expected to if the mutation arose after the early 1970s. |
Molecular Note | The In(6)1J inversion covers approximately 20% of Chr 6 in C3H/HeJ mice. Therefore, linkage crosses using C3H/HeJ will show no recombination in this region of Chr 6. Genetic analyses of congenic construction crosses suggested that the suppressed region lies between D6Mit124 (cytological band 6C3) and D6Mit150 (cytological band 6F1). FISH analyses using flanking BACs detected a paracentric chromosomal region between ~73 Mb and ~116 Mb. |
Allele Name | spike wave discharge 1 |
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Allele Type | QTL |
Allele Synonym(s) | Gria4IAP |
Gene Symbol and Name | Gria4, glutamate receptor, ionotropic, AMPA4 (alpha 4) |
Gene Synonym(s) | |
Strain of Origin | C3H/HeJ |
Chromosome | 9 |
General Note | This allele interacts with spkw2. Animals with the highest incidence of spike wave discharges are homozygous for C3H/HeJ-derived alleles at spkw1 and heterozygous for C57BL/6J and C3H/HeJ alleles at spkw2. |
Molecular Note | This mutation was originally identified as a QTL allele conferring increased incidence of spike wave discharges in the brains of C3H/HeJ mice as compared to C57BL/6J. Genomic PCR and sequencing showed a full-length intracisternal A-particle (IAP) proviral insertion in the last intron of Gria4 in C3H/HeJ mice. qRT-PCR showed a 10-fold difference in C3H/HeJ and C3HeB/FeJ substrains in transcripts detected between exons flanking the IAP-containing intron, and a neglible difference between upstream exon transcript levels in these substrains. Gria4 protein levels in C3H/HeJ cerebella are reduced compared with controls. |
Allele Name | a variant |
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Allele Type | Spontaneous (Not Applicable) |
Allele Synonym(s) | CD5.1; Ly-1.1 |
Gene Symbol and Name | Cd5, CD5 antigen |
Gene Synonym(s) | |
Strain of Origin | multiple strains |
Chromosome | 19 |
Molecular Note | Sequence analysis of C3H/HeJ showed that this polymorphic variant has point mutations relative to the b variant that result in valine instead of isoleucine at amino acid 9, leucine instead of glutamine at amino acid 52, and isoleucine instead of phenylalanine at amino acid 71, all within the amino terminal scavenger receptor cysteine-rich D1 domain, in addition to 7 silent point mutations. This allele is found in many inbred strains including CBA/J, C3H and DBA substrains. |
Allele Name | C3H/HeJ |
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Allele Type | Spontaneous (Hypomorph) |
Allele Synonym(s) | Pcnxl2IAP |
Gene Symbol and Name | Pcnx2, pecanex homolog 2 |
Gene Synonym(s) | |
Strain of Origin | C3H/HeJ |
Chromosome | 8 |
Molecular Note | This IAP insertion in intron 19 causes diminished expression of this gene by RT-PCR in C3H/HeJ and is not found in C3HeB/FeJ, C3H/HeOuJ, or C3H/HeSnJ. |
Allele Name | B pertussis induced histamine sensitization, resistant |
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Allele Type | Spontaneous |
Allele Synonym(s) | Bphsh |
Gene Symbol and Name | Hrh1, histamine receptor H1 |
Gene Synonym(s) | |
Strain of Origin | C3H/HeJ or CBA/J |
Chromosome | 6 |
General Note | Mice homozygous for this allele do not die from hypotensive and hypovolemic shock induced by vasoactive amine challenge after pertussis toxin sensitization (J:77938). |
Molecular Note | This allele confers resistance to Bordetella pertussis induced histamine sensitization and occurs in strains C3H/HeJ and CBA/J. These strains carry three concordant amino acid changes in the predicted protein sequence (L263P, M313V and S331P) that are in the third intracellular loop and are postulated to be associated with signal transduction function. |
Allele Name | myxovirus susceptibility 1 |
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Allele Type | Spontaneous (Null/Knockout) |
Allele Synonym(s) | |
Gene Symbol and Name | Mx1, MX dynamin-like GTPase 1 |
Gene Synonym(s) | |
Strain of Origin | multiple strains |
Chromosome | 16 |
General Note | The Mx genes determine resistance to the lethal effects of various myxoviruses including neurotropic avian influenza A virus injected intracerebrally, pneumotropic strains injected intranasally, and a hepatotropic strain injected intraperitoneally (J:5645, J:13136). Resistance is not dependent on presence of the thymus and is not abolished by immunosuppression or by inhibitors of macrophage function (J:5735, J:5478, J:5645). Resistance is specific for the orthomyxoviruses (J:6265). It is dependent on the presence of interferon-alpha and -beta but not -gamma (J:7365). The resistance allele at the Mx1 locus, under induction by alpha/beta interferon, produces the 75 kDa protein MX-1, which confers resistance to the influenza virus, in the nuclei of cells carrying the allele. Susceptibility alleles do not produce the protein (J:8273). The protein is located in the nucleus (J:7703) and produces its antiviral effect by preventing synthesis of viral mRNA in the nucleus (J:7992). Nuclear localization is necessary for anti-influenza virus activity (J:1417), but mutations induced in Mx1 showed that nuclear position was not sufficient for the effect; mutations in several domains can cause its loss (J:11840). The MX-1 protein is a GTPase containing a GTP binding domain (J:1417) and this binding core is also necessary (J:21243). Resistance is expressed by macrophages and other cells in vitro (J:6649, J:5940) but could not be transferred to susceptible animals by transfer of macrophages from resistant mice (J:6149). Resistance to infection with two tick-borne viruses, Thogoto virus (J:8273) and Dhori virus (J:27760), is also conferred by Mx1r. The Mx1r allele occurs only in strains A2G, SL/NiA, and T9, the latter being a strain derived from an influenza-resistant wild stock, and CAST/Ei, derived from Mus musculus castaneus. Most inbred strains, including C57BL/6J, C3H/HeJ, and BALB/cJ, carry an influenza susceptible Mx1s1 allele which produces mRNA lacking exons 9, 10, and 11 of the Mx1r allele. This large deletion apparently renders the protein incapable of providing resistance to influenza. The CBA/J, CE/J, I/LnJ, and PERA/Ei strains, also susceptible to the virus, have another form of the Mx1s2 allele in which there is a nonsense mutation (J:9452). Interferon is induced by viral infection and in turn induces the Mx protein (J:7703). Although some interferon-induced genes respond directly to virus invasion as well as indirectly through induction by virus-induced interferon, this primary response is very weak for the MX-1 protein in response to either influenza or Newcastle disease viruses (J:1892). |
Molecular Note | Many inbred mouse strains have an exon 9 to 11 deletion, resulting in a null allele and susceptibility to myxoviruses, including: A/J, ABP/Le, AKR/J, AU/SsJ, BALB/cJ, BDP/J, BUB/BnJ, C3H/HeJ, C57BL/6J, C57BL/10J, C57BL/KsJ, C57L/J, C58/J, DA/HuSn, DBA/2J, FSB/GnEi, FVB/NJ, LIS/A, LP/J, MA/MyJ, MAS/A, NZB/BINJ, P/J, PL/J, RIIIS/J, RF/J, SEA/GnJ, SEC1/ReJ, SJL/J, ST/bJ, TS1/A, TW1/A. YBR/Ei, 020/A, 129/J, SF/CamEi and SK/CamEi. |
Allele Name | long |
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Allele Type | Not Applicable (Not Specified) |
Allele Synonym(s) | SCAF1113 |
Gene Symbol and Name | Cox7a2l, cytochrome c oxidase subunit 7A2 like |
Gene Synonym(s) | |
Strain of Origin | multiple strains |
Chromosome | 17 |
General Note | Querying the sequences of the Sanger Mouse Genomes Project reveals that the short allele with its 6 bp deletion exists in C57BL/6J, C57BL/10J, C57BL/6NJ, C58/J, BALB/cJ, C3H/HeH, 129S5/SvEvBrd, NZW/LacZ, and SEA/GnJ, but the long allele lacking the deletion exists in 129S1/SvImJ, A/J, AKR/J, BTBR T+ Itpr3tf/J, BUB/BnJ, C3H/HeJ, C57BR/cdJ, C57L/J, CAST/EiJ, CBA/J, DBA/1J, DBA/2J, FVB/NJ, I/LnJ, KK/HiJ, LEWES/EiJ, LP/J, MOLF/EiJ, NOD/ShiLtJ, NZB/BlNJ, NZO/HlLtJ, PWK/PhJ, RF/J, SPRET/EiJ, ST/bJ, WSB/EiJ, ZALENDE/EiJ. |
Molecular Note | This allele encodes the long isoform with 113 amino acids. It is found in 129S2/SvPasCrl, CBA/CaOlaHsd, Hsd:ICR, and NZB/OlaHsd. |
When using the C3H mouse strain in a publication, please include JAX stock #000659 in your Materials and Methods section.
Facility Barrier Level Descriptions
AX29 (Maximum) |
EM02 (Maximum) |
RB09 (Maximum) |
Service/Product | Description | Price |
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Inbred, 1 pair minimum will be supplied |
Mouse ES Cells | C3H/HeJ-PB151.24 mES cells | $695.00 |
Mouse ES Cells | C3H/HeJ-PRX-C3H #2 mES cells | $995.00 |
Mouse ES Cells | C3H*K/HeJ AC386/GrsrJ mES cells | $995.00 |
Mouse ES Cells | C3H/HeJ-PB151.24 mES cells | $695.00 |
Mouse ES Cells | C3H/HeJ-PRX-C3H #2 mES cells | $995.00 |
Mouse ES Cells | C3H*K/HeJ AC386/GrsrJ mES cells | $995.00 |
Mouse ES Cells | C3H/HeJ-PB151.24 mES cells | $695.00 |
Mouse ES Cells | C3H/HeJ-PRX-C3H #2 mES cells | $995.00 |
Mouse ES Cells | C3H*K/HeJ AC386/GrsrJ mES cells | $995.00 |
Mouse ES Cells | C3H/HeJ-PB151.24 mES cells | $695.00 |
Mouse ES Cells | C3H/HeJ-PRX-C3H #2 mES cells | $995.00 |
Mouse ES Cells | C3H*K/HeJ AC386/GrsrJ mES cells | $995.00 |
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The Jackson Laboratory has rigorous genetic quality control and mutant gene genotyping programs to ensure the genetic background of JAX® Mice strains as well as the genotypes of strains with identified molecular mutations. JAX® Mice strains are only made available to researchers after meeting our standards. However, the phenotype of each strain may not be fully characterized and/or captured in the strain data sheets. Therefore, we cannot guarantee a strain's phenotype will meet all expectations. To ensure that JAX® Mice will meet the needs of individual research projects or when requesting a strain that is new to your research, we suggest ordering and performing tests on a small number of mice to determine suitability for your particular project. We do not guarantee breeding performance and therefore suggest that investigators order more than one breeding pair to avoid delays in their research.
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