Animal Models in Immunology

Adam Brown and Teresa Fulk

Nude Mouse

• Discovered in 1962.• Is hairless, and more importantly,

lacks a thymus.• Homozygous for recessive trait called

“nu”• Immunodeficient since it can’t produce

T-cells and lymphocytes.• This allows for implantation of human

tumor cells into mouse without rejection.

Scid Mouse• Def. “A laboratory animal that,

lacking an enzyme necessary to fashion an immune system of its own, can be turned into a model of the human immune system when injected with human cells or tissues.”

• Discovered in 1983.• S.C.I.D. – Severe combined immune deficiency• Found to be more immunodeficient than nude

mice• Used as a blank slate immune system.• Used in oncology, immunology, infectious

disease, rejection of tissue transplants.

Transgenic or Knock-out Mouse

• Mouse that has DNA artificially transmitted into it.

• Are produced from genetically engineered embryos.

• Through breeding, strains of mice created with desired traits.

References

• http://www.immunecentral.com/immune-system/iss29.cfm

• http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/Animal_Alternatives/cancer.htm

• http://home.comcast.net/~john.kimball1/BiologyPages/N/NudeMouse.html

• http://darwin.bio.uci.edu/~tjf/tmf_tgms.html• http://www.uac.arizona.edu/VSC443/

rodentmodels/rodentmodel06.html• http://www.accessexcellence.org/RC/VL/GG/

transgenic.html