| |
|
| |
| |  Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of liver diseases, including cirrhosis and liver cancer. Some 170 million people worldwide are chronically infected with HCV, and 3 to 4 million are newly infected each year. Treatment for chronic hepatitis C is often out of financial reach for people in developing countries, and there is no vaccine against the virus.
To prepare a human vaccine, investigators need an animal model that can help them screen and prioritize vaccine candidates. Dr. Balling's team, partnering with Dr. Di Santo's group at the Institut Pasteur in France, is working toward the development of mice with livers and immune systems that are similar to those of humans. These animals might be used to test vaccines for HCV, and potentially, other human pathogens. |
| | |
| | | Advance human immune system development in mice, called HIS mice | | | | | Develop mice that can be engrafted with high levels of human liver cells, called HuHEP mice | | | | | Combine these two models in a single mouse with a functional human immune system and high numbers of human liver cells | | |
| |
| | BACK TO THE TOP |
| | |
| | | Team members produced several new strains of immunodeficient mice that carry various combinations of mutations (Rag-2, IL-2Rgamma, IL-2Rbeta, Flk2) and/or transgenes (CD11c-DTR, HLA-DR1, HLA-DR2, HLA-A2, huIL¬7, huIL-15). | | | | | Investigators are analyzing these strains for their capacity to support human lymphocyte differentiation and a functional human immune response. They have identified several factors, notably age and genetic background that affect how well these mice are generated. | | | | | The project team established standard procedures for human hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) and liver cell transplantation from the same fetal source, and partners of the consortium have developed methods to test B cell (Tetanus toxoid, Pneumococcus vaccine, HBV) and T cell (Influenza, TSST-1 super-antigen, allograft skin rejection) immune responses. | | | | | Investigators developed a novel mouse model, uPA/Rag/gammac mice, with high liver cell repopulation rates. They are studying this and other strains for their capacity to successfully repopulate several types of liver cells. | | |
| |
| | BACK TO THE TOP |
| | | |
| | | Dr. James DiSanto , Institut Pasteur, Paris, France - FR | | | | | Ascenion, Berlin, Germany - DE | | | | | Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Hannover, Germany - DE | | | | | INSERM, Paris, France - FR | | | | | Dr. M. Centlivre, Academisch Medisch Centrum, Amsterdam, Netherlands - NL | | | | | Dr C. Uittenbogaart , University of California at Los Angeles, California, United States - US | | | | | Dr. J. Cornelissen, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands - NL | | | | | Dr. Ralph M. Steinman, Rockefeller University, New York, New York, United States - US | | | | | Indo-German Science Center for Infectious Diseases, New Dehli, India - IN | | | | | Dr. Shiv Sarin , University of Dehli, Dehli, India - IN | | | | | National Canadian Research Training Program in Hep-C, Ontario, Canada - CA | | | | | Dr. T. Cupedo , Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands - NL | | | | | Dr. D. Markusic, Academisch Medisch Centrum, Netherlands - NL | | |
| |
| | BACK TO THE TOP |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|