You may have come across accumulating reports uncovering biomedical breakthroughs which all use humanized mice in vivo assays. So, you may wonder, what is a humanized mouse and why is it so commonly used in biomedical research?
Humanized mouse is generally referred to as a mouse has been xenotransplanted with human cells and/or engineered to express human gene products, so as to be applied to understanding of human-specific physiology and pathology. You can learn an lot about fundamental biology and genetics by studying the large number and great variety of strains of mice available to scientists today. But humanized mouse can be even more powerful models of the human being and thus better for research into the problems of human development and disease.
Mice applied to oncology research
The most common humanized mouse model for researchers is definitely PDX or CDX model. The PDX model, designated as patient-derived xenograft (PDX), is created using engraftment of human tumor. In some cases, a PDX mouse model is typically used to evaluate anti-tumor efficacy of new drugs. The creation of typical PDX model is conducted as follows, a patient-derived tumor is cut into pieces, and these pieces are engrafted into different mice. Each piece then grows and will be divided into more pieces and put into additional mice. Therefore, numerous humanized mice are created, each with tumors nearly identical to each other and to the original human patient’s tumor.
CDX model, also known as cell line-derived xenograft (CDX), are also commonly used for tumor study. A typical CDX model is created using engraftment of cell lines, especially type-specific cancer cell lines. Different groups of PDX or CDX mice are applied to evaluating the efficacy of new drugs or drug combinations, so as to confirm the drug or the drug combination has the highest anti-tumor efficacy towards type-specific tumor.
SMOC offers wide-ranging PDX and CDX models that are used to study type-specific tumors. These mouse models are also powerful tools to evaluate immunotherapies targeting T cells or myeloid cells.
Mice applied to research of human immune system
The reconstitution of the humanized immune system based on a mouse is another common application of humanized mouse models. As to the creation of such a model, a mouse with defect mouse immune system is injected with fetal tissue-derived or cord blood-derived human stem cells, which generate human T cells, B cells, and other immune cells in the mouse, allowing the elucidation of immune response towards wide-ranging diseases such as, SARS-CoV-2 and cancer. Besides, these mice are also commonly applied to elucidate the mechanism by which chemical-based and biotech-based pharmaceuticals can treat different diseases such as, infectious disease and type-specific tumors.
Mice applied to studying function of human genes
Depending on innovation of gene-editing technologies, a strand of DNA can be broken at a specific location and a short stretch of genetic code can be eliminated or added from another organism. In this way, DNA in a mouse embryo can be replaced with a human genetic sequence, and these mice can be used to study function of a specific human gene or genetic variation in human health. These mice can also be used to evaluate efficacy of a specific therapy to determine if gene-caused aberration can be prevented.
So humanized mice can be created in wide-ranging ways and, in this way, more and more mechanism help to explain biological phenomena will be illustrated. Humanized mice is also highly efficient of to evaluate efficacy of therapies help to facilitate human health.
With continuous innovation of genetic engineering technologies, SMOC are providing cutting-edge mouse models and powerful preclinical services to researchers worldwide. To learn more about SMOC models, please visit our website, www.modelorg.us.
