Stable, complete replacement of the peripheral RBC compartment occurred in engrafted mice.

RBC chimerism is determined by hemoglobin electrophoresis. Recipient mice originally possessed only human sickle β-globin (lane 1), while donor mice possessed the major and minor alleles of mouse β-globin (lane 2). Lane 3 shows a representative engrafted mouse with complete peripheral replacement with donor β-globin. Complete replacement of the peripheral blood with donor hemoglobin occurred within 1 month after transplantation and was stable for the entire observation period (> 150 days) in all engrafted mice. Hu indicates human; Mu, murine.