Mouse Models of Autoimmune Diseases

Abstract

Significant progress has been made in past decades in our understanding of the basic mechanisms underlying autoimmune diseases. Nevertheless, many questions remain unanswered, in particular regarding the mechanisms at very early stages of these diseases. Reliable animal models are of crucial importance in basic research and may help us to understand central disease pathways. They are also indispensable for pre-clinical drug testing. Here we present and discuss two mouse models of rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis, respectively. In experimental studies using the models of collagen-induced arthritis and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, the efficacy of new biological agents has been tested, which paved the way for clinical trials. A further interesting field where mouse models may provide valuable informations, is the identification of susceptibility genes for autoimmune diseases. Overall, in some instances studies with inbred strains may have an advantage over human studies, because environmental factors may easily be controlled and the genetic differences between different mouse strains are better characterized.

Efficient Generation of Bispecific Murine Antibodies for Pre-Clinical Investigations in Syngeneic Rodent Models

“…Preclinical efficacy of antibody therapeutics for oncology is commonly demonstrated using xenograft models in immuno-deficient mice, because these are less likely to elicit immune responses against either the xenograft or therapeutic antibody 1, 2 . However, to investigate increasingly more complex therapeutic concepts that go beyond targeting of the tumor or disease-tissue directly, the presence of relevant cross-talk between the intact immune system, disease associated immune cells, and disease tissue microenvironment are essential.…”

“…However, to investigate increasingly more complex therapeutic concepts that go beyond targeting of the tumor or disease-tissue directly, the presence of relevant cross-talk between the intact immune system, disease associated immune cells, and disease tissue microenvironment are essential. As a consequence, the efficacy and safety of these complex concepts are often studied using syngeneic models in immuno-competent mice employing (surrogate) mouse antibodies to maximize the use of effector functions and avoid anti-drug responses 2–5 .…”