EXPERIMENTAL MODELS OF

IMMUNODEFICIENCY

Name: Altaf khan

Roll no: 155
 INTRODUCTION

• The choice of an animal depends on its suitability

for attaining a particular research goal.
• Need for animal models
• In vitro assays typically rely on simple
interactions of chemicals with a drug target, such
as receptor binding or enzyme activity inhibition
• in vitro results often poorly correlate with in vivo
results
• The most common animal model used is mouse
 WHY MOUSE PREFERRED?

• The closest to humans

Mammal!
Mice protien coding genes are 85 per cent
similar to the humans
• The complex integration of systems
(endocrine, immune, nervous etc.)
• Ability to quickly multiply
Reproducing as often as every nine weeks.
• Easy to handle
mice are ~3 inches long, can keep many mice
in a room
Types
• Athymic (nude) mice
• SCID mice
1. Athymic(nude) mice
• Discovered in 1962 by Norman R. Grist
• Is hairless, and more importantly, lacks a thymus.
• A genetic trait designated nu, which is controlled by a
recessive gene on chromosome 11
• Trait with homozygous (nu/nu) are hairless and
vestigial thymus
• Nude mice lack cell-mediated immune responses and
they unable to make antibodies.
• Hence they can permanently tolerate both allografts
and xenografts
• It is known that the nude mouse does not completely
lack T cells
• They carry T-cell receptors of the ɣδ type instead of
the αβ
Mortality rate
• The mortality is 100% in 25 weeks
• 50% are die in 1-2 weeks after birth
Under normal conditions
Precautions
• Sterilized food, water, cages, and
bedding
• The cages are protected from dust by
placing them in a laminar flow rack or
by the use of air filters fitted over the
individual cages.
2. SCID mice
• Discovered in 1983 by Melvin and Gayle Bosma
• Autosomal recessive mutation in mice that gave rise to a severe deficiency in
mature lymphocytes
• Designated as SCID(Severe combined immune deficiency)
• The SCID mouse was shown to have early B- and T-lineage cells
• The precursor B and T cells are unable to differentiate
• Cells other than lymphocytes develop normally in the SCID mouse
• The mutaion which causes mouse SCID is called “leaky mutation”
• Defect in RAG1 and RAG2 enzyme
• Causes failure in V(D)J recombination in SCID mice
• The SCID mouse can neither make antibody nor carry graft-rejection reaction

• They need to kept in extremely clean environment, otherwise they can have
infections in early life
• SCID mouse has proven extremely useful in
studies of cellular immunology. Because its
rejection mechanisms do not operate.
• SCID-Hu mice
• Immune precursor cells from human sources may
be used to reestablish the SCID mouse’s immune
system
• the SCID mouse circulation will contain
immunoglobulin of human origin
• These SCID-Hu mice provides an animal model in
which to test therapeutic or prophylactic
strategies against HIV infection of the transplanted
human lymphoid tissue.

Production of SCID-Hu mice

 REFERENCES

1. Kuby immunology 5th edition

2. https://www.blood.ca/en/research/our-research-stories/rese
arch-education-discovery/why-do-scientists-use-mice-med
ical
THANK YOU!