Scientists have achieved a groundbreaking feat by breeding mice with a fully functional human immune system. This development is expected to significantly enhance drug development and medical research. The humanized mice produced immune cells that closely resembled those found in humans when faced with infections. Additionally, when exposed to a chemical that induces widespread inflammation, the mice developed a form of lupus that closely mimicked the human version of the disease.
While humanized mice have been used in research for some time, previous models have not fully replicated the human immune response. The new approach involved genetically modifying mice with weakened immune systems and injecting them with human stem cells extracted from umbilical cord blood. These stem cells were capable of developing into various types of immune cells, which populated the mice’s bone marrow and produced a wide range of human immune cells, including T cells and B cells.
The researchers tested the humanized mice’s response to vaccines by administering the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech. The mice successfully produced human antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This new mouse model is expected to be a valuable tool for vaccine development and biomedical research, as it allows researchers to observe how vaccines interact with a fully human immune system in a living organism.
Dr. Paolo Casali, a co-senior study author, highlighted the potential of these humanized mice for testing vaccine efficacy and developing immunotherapies for conditions like cancer. By utilizing mice with a 100% human immune system, researchers can gain valuable insights into how vaccines and therapies will function in the human body. This advancement could potentially eliminate the need for using non-human primates in certain research studies.
Overall, the development of highly human-like mice for medical research purposes represents a significant step forward in the field of immunology and drug development. The ability to study the human immune system in a living organism with such precision opens up new possibilities for advancing medical treatments and understanding immune responses better. The future of medical research looks promising with the availability of these advanced mouse models.
