Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Mouse Model”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 289 records · Page 16Linked to original sources

Selective neurodegeneration, without neurofibrillary tangles, in a mouse model of Niemann-Pick C disease.

The BALB/c mouse model of Niemann-Pick type C (NPC) disease exhibits neuropathological similarities to the human condition. There is an age-related cerebral atrophy, demyelination of the corpus callosum, and degeneration of cerebellar Purkinje cells in the NPC mouse. In human NPC, many cortical and subcortical neurons contain neurofibrillary tangles, which are thought by some investigators to play an important role in the neurodegenerative process. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether neurodegeneration occurs in the NPC mouse, in brain regions other than the cerebellum and whether the degeneration is related to the presence of neurofibrillary tangles. Using light microscopic methods with immunohistochemistry, electron microscopy, and cell counting methods, 11-week-old NPC(+/+) and NPC(-/-) animals were examined. In the NPC(-/-) mice, there were 96% fewer Purkinje cells, 28% fewer neurons in the prefrontal cortex, 20% fewer neurons in the thalamus, and 63% fewer glial cells in the corpus callosum. On the other hand, previous studies indicate normal numbers of neurons and glial cells in these same neuroanatomical regions in young NPC(-/-) mice. There were normal numbers of cholinergic neurons in sections assessed in the striatum and basal forebrain in the 11-week-old animals and no evidence of neurofibrillary tangles within cells. The present data indicate that both neurons and glial cells die in the NPC mouse but that all cells are not equally vulnerable. There was no evidence for neurofibrillary tangles in the NPC mouse, and therefore the degenerative process in the mouse is unrelated to the neurofibrillary tangle.

Animals↗

Interferon-gamma expression by intraepithelial lymphocytes results in a loss of epithelial barrier function in a mouse model of total parenteral nutrition.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the etiology of the loss of epithelial barrier function observed with the administration of total parenteral nutrition (TPN) in a mouse model. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: Removal of enteral nutrition with the administration of TPN is associated with a loss of intestinal epithelial barrier function. The etiology of this barrier loss is not clear. Because intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) produce a number of cytokines that may alter epithelial permeability, the authors investigated IEL cytokine expression in a mouse model of TPN. METHODS: Adult C57BL/6 mice received TPN or enteral diet for 7 days. IELs were subsequently harvested and the mRNA expression of cytokines was measured. Epithelial barrier function was assessed in vitro with 51Cr-EDTA in Ussing chambers and was expressed as the permeability coefficient (Papp). RESULTS: IEL mRNA expression of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) rose from 0.14 +/- 0.07 in the control (enterally fed) group to 0.44 +/- 0.11 attomoles/microL in the TPN group (P <.05). Transforming growth factor-beta1 declined slightly but not significantly, from 0.75 +/- 0.35 to 0.55 +/- 0.18 attomoles/microL in the control and TPN groups, respectively. Epithelial barrier function declined significantly with TPN compared to controls. To assess the relevance of IFN-gamma changes, permeability in IFN-gamma knockout mice was studied. Barrier function was significantly higher in IFN-gamma knockout mice on TPN compared to C57BL/6 mice that received TPN. CONCLUSIONS: IEL cytokine expression changes significantly with TPN administration. The partial correction with IFN-gamma knockout mice suggests that an upregulation of IFN-gamma expression is one mechanism responsible for the loss of the epithelial barrier associated with TPN.

Animals↗

Anti-sclerotic effect of transforming growth factor-beta antibody in a mouse model of bleomycin-induced scleroderma.

Recent studies have demonstrated the evidence of the crucial role of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) in the pathogenesis of tissue fibrosis; however, its precise role has not been fully elucidated. Administration of anti-TGF-beta antibody is shown to be effective for inhibiting lung fibrosis induced by bleomycin in an experimental animal model. We have recently established a mouse model for scleroderma by repeated injections of bleomycin. In this study, we examined whether the suppression of TGF-beta leads to the improvement of dermal sclerotic lesion by using this model. We induced dermal sclerosis in C3H mice by subcutaneous injections of bleomycin (100 microg/ml) for 3 weeks, and separate groups of mice were also injected with bleomycin with either anti-TGF-beta antibody (10 microg/ml) or control normal rabbit serum for 3 weeks. Thus treated skins were harvested and analyzed for histological sclerosis, serum cytokine, and influx of mast cells and eosinophils, both of which are known to release fibrogenic cytokines or several mediators responsible for tissue fibrosis. The result showed that anti-TGF-beta antibody caused a significant reduction in cutaneous sclerosis characterized by histological features and hydroxyproline contents. Examination of tissue sections also revealed a significant suppression of influx of mast cells and eosinophils. Serum interleukin-4 (IL-4) and IL-6 levels determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay exhibited a significant reduction after anti-TGF-beta antibody treatment. Our results suggest that administration of an antibody against TGF-beta is useful in preventing experimental dermal sclerosis induced by bleomycin and raises a possibility of the therapeutic approach of anti-TGF-beta antibody in scleroderma.

Animals↗

A heteroallelic mutant mouse model: A new orthologue for human hyperphenylalaninemia.

Hyperphenylalaninemias (HPA) are Mendelian disorders resulting from deficiencies in the conversion of phenylalanine to tyrosine. The vast majority are explained by a primary deficiency of phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) activity. The majority of untreated patients experience irreversible impairment of cognitive development. Although it is one of the best known hereditary metabolic disorders, mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of the disease are still not fully understood; to this end, the availability of an orthologous animal model is relevant. Various mutant hyperphenylalaninemic mouse models with an HPA phenotype, generated by N-ethyl-N'-nitrosourea (ENU) mutagenesis at the Pah locus, have become available. Here we report a new hybrid strain, ENU1/2, with primary enzyme deficiency, produced by cross breeding. The ENU1, ENU1/2, and ENU2 strains display mild, moderate, and severe phenotypes, respectively, relative to the control strain (BTBR/Pas). The Pah enzyme activities of the various models correlate inversely with the corresponding phenylalanine levels in plasma and brain and the delay in plasma clearance response following a phenylalanine challenge. The maternal HPA effect on the fetus correlates directly with the degree of hyperphenylalaninemia, but only the ENU2 strain has impaired learning.

Alleles↗

Autochthonous mouse models for prostate cancer: past, present and future.

Prostate cancer continues to be the second leading cancer related death among men. In order to more fully develop effective prevention and intervention strategies for this prevalent disease, the underlying molecular mechanisms of initiation, progression and metastatic spread must be understood. To this end mouse models have an essential role in prostate cancer research in that they can closely mimic the pathological and biochemical features of the disease. In this review we discuss the history of autochthonous murine models of prostate cancer, the essentials of the idealized mouse model for prostate cancer and speculate on approaches towards this goal.

Animals↗

A mouse model of Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis mimicking several features of human disease.

The course of bacterial titers, meningeal inflammation, behavioral abnormalities, and neuronal damage was studied in a mouse model of Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis. At 24 h after injection of 10(4) colony-forming units (CFU) S. pneumoniae into the right forebrain, infected mice became severely lethargic. Bacterial titers in cerebrospinal fluid and cerebellum rose to 10(9) CFU/ml, with strong granulocyte invasion into the meninges and neuronal necroses in the neocortex, striatum and hippocampal formation. Meningeal inflammation and neuronal damage in intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1- and macrophage colony-stimulating factor-deficient mice was similar to that in wild-type littermates. Untreated, the infection was fatal. Wild-type mice treated earlier than 24 h after infection with ceftriaxone (2 mg every 12 h for 3 days) survived without apparent behavioral abnormalities. Delay of treatment beyond 30 h led to the death of more than 50% of the infected mice. This mouse model is suitable for therapeutic studies and for the investigation of inflammation in knockout mice. The neuronal damage resembles morphological abnormalities observed in humans.

Animals↗

Studies of vitamin A metabolism in mouse model systems.

Over the past several years, discoveries from mouse genetics have had direct impact on our understanding of vitamin A metabolism. Although the metabolism of vitamin A in the mouse does have some special features (for example very large stores of liver and pulmonary retinyl esters), the ability to construct knockout and transgenic mouse models has yielded an impressive amount of information directly relevant to understanding the general principles of vitamin A transport, storage and degradation. We discuss below the metabolism of vitamin A through a number of genetically engineered mouse strains with alterations in genes that affect this metabolism. The novelty of this experimental approach is evidenced by the fact that the oldest of these strains was first reported only eight years ago.1)

Animals↗

Immunity and immunopathology to respiratory syncytial virus. The mouse model.

Infection with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major unsolved challenge for vaccine development. RSV is worldwide in distribution and infects almost all children during the first 2 yr of life. The mouse model of RSV lung disease has been very successful in reproducing many aspects of the human disease. In particular, the role of antiviral T cells in both eliminating virus and causing enhanced disease has been shown dramatically. This immunopathologic paradox is now more clearly understood than for any other common human infection, largely due to insights gained from the mouse model. This review focuses on the unique ability of different RSV proteins to prime for specific functional subsets in the mouse, and the association between sensitization to the major surface glycoprotein G, the induction of T helper 2 cells, and the subsequent appearance of lung eosinophilia during RSV infection.

Animals↗

Rapid degradation of dominant-negative Rab27 proteins in vivo precludes their use in transgenic mouse models.

BACKGROUND: Transgenic mice have proven to be a powerful system to study normal and pathological gene functions. Here we describe an attempt to generate a transgenic mouse model for choroideremia (CHM), a slow-onset X-linked retinal degeneration caused by mutations in the Rab Escort Protein-1 (REP1) gene. REP1 is part of the Rab geranylgeranylation machinery, a modification that is essential for Rab function in membrane traffic. The loss of REP1 in CHM patients may trigger retinal degeneration through its effects on Rab proteins. We have previously reported that Rab27a is the Rab most affected in CHM lymphoblasts and hypothesised that the selective dysfunction of Rab27a (and possibly a few other Rab GTPases) plays an essential role in the retinal degenerative process. RESULTS: To investigate this hypothesis, we generated several lines of dominant-negative, constitutively-active and wild-type Rab27a (and Rab27b) transgenic mice whose expression was driven either by the pigment cell-specific tyrosinase promoter or the ubiquitous beta-actin promoter. High levels of mRNA and protein were observed in transgenic lines expressing wild-type or constitutively active Rab27a and Rab27b. However, only modest levels of transgenic protein were expressed. Pulse-chase experiments suggest that the dominant-negative proteins, but not the constitutively-active or wild type proteins, are rapidly degraded. Consistently, no significant phenotype was observed in our transgenic lines. Coat-colour was normal, indicating normal Rab27a activity. Retinal function as determined by fundoscopy, angiography, electroretinography and histology was also normal. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that the instability of the dominant-negative mutant Rab27 proteins in vivo precludes the use of this approach to generate mouse models of disease caused by Rab27 GTPases.

Animals↗

Revisiting endothelial tropism of SARS-CoV-2 using a cell-specific hACE2 mouse model.

UNLABELLED: Severe COVID-19 is frequently associated with vascular complications, raising ongoing debate about whether SARS-CoV-2 can directly infect endothelial cells and thereby contribute to disease pathogenesis. Although endothelial cells express angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), the in vivo relevance of endothelial-restricted viral tropism remains unclear. To directly assess the consequences of endothelial-restricted SARS-CoV-2 tropism in vivo, we generated a transgenic mouse model expressing human ACE2 under control of the endothelial-specific Cdh5 promoter (Cdh5-hACE2). Despite confirmed pulmonary endothelial expression and protein presence of hACE2, SARS-CoV-2 infection of Cdh5-hACE2 mice did not induce clinical illness, detectable viral replication, immune cell influx in the lung, or histopathological abnormalities in the lung or brain. These findings indicate that endothelial-restricted SARS-CoV-2 tropism alone is insufficient to drive productive infection and clinical disease in vivo, suggesting that endothelial involvement in COVID-19 likely arises in the context of broader cellular infection or systemic host responses rather than from primary endothelial infection. IMPORTANCE: Although SARS-CoV-2 primarily infects the upper and lower airways, COVID-19 was quickly recognized as a multi-organ disease, in which vascular complications are a recurring feature. This has raised the possibility that direct infection of endothelial cells contributes to disease pathogenesis. However, whether vascular injury arises from productive endothelial infection or instead represents a secondary consequence of systemic inflammation remains unresolved. To directly disentangle these possibilities and define the in vivo consequences of endothelial-restricted viral tropism, we generated a transgenic mouse model expressing human ACE2 under the control of the endothelial-specific Cdh5 promoter (Cdh5-hACE2).

Animals↗

New insights into atherosclerosis from studies with mouse models.

Atherosclerosis is a disease of the large arteries that is the cause of heart disease and stroke. It is a highly complex disorder with multiple genetic and environmental influences. The mouse model has proved very useful for studying atherosclerosis because genetic analysis and planned genetic modification are feasible in this organism. In this brief review, some recent findings are summarized and future prospects using mouse models to study atherosclerosis-related traits are discussed.

Animals↗

Mechanism of the development of autoimmune dacryodenitis in the mouse model for primary Sjögren's syndrome.

To elucidate the mechanism of development in autoimmune lacrimal gland disease, we analyzed different aspects of autoimmune dacryoadenitis in a newly established mouse model for primary Sjögren's syndrome, focusing on the local expressions of cytokine genes, and the repertoire of T cell receptor (TCR) V beta genes transcribed within the inflammatory infiltration in the lacrimal glands. We found that the vast majority of inflammatory infiltration into the lacrimal glands were CD4+ V beta 8+ T cells. We detected the up-regulation of local cytokine genes (IL-1 beta, TNF-alpha, IL-2, IFN-gamma, IL-10, IL-12p40) in the lacrimal glands with very early inflammatory lesions by reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR analysis. The predominant expression of the V beta 8 gene segment was detected from a very early stage, while extensive age-related diversity of TCR V beta gene usage was observed. Single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis demonstrated a distinct and a common binding pattern in the PCR product of the V beta 8 gene on the infiltrating cells during the course of the disease. These data suggest that in autoimmune dacryoadenitis of the mouse model for primary Sjögren's syndrome there may be a restricted usage of TCR V beta elements on a very early stage of the autoimmune lesion to recognize unknown self-antigen, and the autoreactive CD4+ T cells constitute a unique cytokine profile in the autoimmune lacrimal gland disease.

Animals↗

Immunodeficient mouse models of lymphoid tumors.

Severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice lack functional T- and B-cells and readily accept human xenografts, including hematopoietic malignancies. Accordingly, SCID mice have been used to study the growth and behavior of lymphoid tumors in vivo. The SCID mouse models of disease mimic human diseases and have provided valuable information. However, this mouse strain has some residual immunity that somewhat limits posttransplantation growth of human xenografts. Recently, the SCID mutation was backcrossed onto the nonobese diabetic (NOD) strain background. The result was an animal with additional immunological defects beyond those seen in SCID mice. The NOD/SCID strain appears to be more promising as a tool for xenotransplantation of lymphoid tumors. Moreover, these SCID and NOD/SCID mouse models have been used to develop novel therapeutic strategies. Results from such studies may also help to elucidate the pathogenesis of lymphoid tumors.

Animals↗

Avirulence of a Pseudomonas aeruginosa algC mutant in a burned-mouse model of infection.

The virulence of wild-type Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 and that of a genetically defined algC mutant, PAO1 algC::tet, were compared in a burned-mouse model of infection. Unlike PAO1, PAO1 algC::tet was avirulent, grew less well in the eschar, and did not disseminate to the liver of challenged animals. We have previously shown that the P. aeruginosa algC gene is required for biosynthesis of alginate and lipopolysaccharide (M.J. Coyne, Jr., K.S. Russell, C.L. Coyle, and J.B. Goldberg, J. Bacteriol. 176:3500-3507, 1994). In order to determine whether the alginate or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) defect was responsible for the avirulence of this strain, we constructed a strain with a mutation in an alginate-specific gene, algD. PAO1-algD was virulent in the burned-mouse model, thus implicating the LPS defect in PAO1 algC::tet as the relevant alteration responsible for the avirulence of this strain.

Animals↗

The Helicobacter felis mouse model in assessing anti-Helicobacter therapies and gastric mucosal prostaglandin E2 levels.

BACKGROUND: The aims of the present study were to assess the usefulness of the Helicobacter felis mouse model in the evaluation of antimicrobial therapies and the effect of Helicobacter infection on gastric mucosal prostaglandin E2 release. METHODS: Barrier-maintained BALB/c mice were infected with H. felis and treated with different antibacterial therapies. H. felis status was determined by bacterial culture, urease test, and bacterial and histologic stainings. Release of prostaglandin E2 from the gastric mucosa was measured by radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: All triple-treated mice were cleared of bacteria both 24 h and 1 month after treatment. However, tinidazole alone also resulted in 100% eradication. Monotherapies with erythromycin acistrate, tetracycline, colloidal bismuth subcitrate, and nitecapone failed to eradicate the bacteria. The release of gastric prostaglandin E2 was doubled in the infected mice (554 +/- 39, mean +/- SE) compared with the noninfected mice (270 +/- 35) (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The H. felis mouse model proved satisfactory for assessing both anti-Helicobacter therapies and the prostaglandin E2 release. The reliability of this method was improved when several methods to assess the H. felis status were used in parallel.

Amoxicillin↗

Neuroimmunophilin ligand V-10,367 is neuroprotective after 24-hour delayed administration in a mouse model of diffuse traumatic brain injury.

The authors present two studies that investigate the biochemical and histologic effects of the nonimmunosuppressive neuroimmunophilin (NIMM) ligand V-10,367 in a mouse model of traumatic brain injury (TBI). In study 1, the authors examined the effect of V-10,367 (50 mg/kg x 2 per day, by mouth) on neurofilament M (NFM) protein levels and on alpha-spectrin breakdown products (SBDPs) when dosed for 2 days, starting 24 hours after TBI and killed on day 3. In study 2, V-10,367 was given for 10 days, starting 24 hours after TBI and the mice killed 6 weeks after TBI, to measure the extent of neurodegeneration (amino CuAg stain). The results in study 1 revealed that V-10,367-treatment significantly increased NFM protein levels in both sham and TBI mice. In addition, V-10,367 attenuated SBDP 150 levels in the cortex, striatum, and hippocampus. The results of study 2 indicated that TBI mice treated with V-10,367 demonstrated significantly less neurodegeneration compared to injured, vehicle-treated mice. In summary, these results suggest that NIMMs may be neuroprotective indirectly through inhibition of calpain-mediated cytoskeletal damage and perhaps via maintenance of neuronal plasticity. In the context of this mouse model of TBI, the therapeutic window for V-10,367's positive effects is at least 24 hours after injury, which, in the case of TBI models, is largely unprecedented for a neuroprotective compound.

1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine↗