Utility of mouse models in vaccine design and development

Bosio, C.M., Macleod, M. , Marrack, P. and Kedl, R.M. (2012) Utility of mouse models in vaccine design and development. In: Morrow, W.J.W., Sheikh, N.A., Schmidt, C.S. and Davies, H. (eds.) Vaccinology: Principles and Practices. Wiley-Blackwell: Chichester, UK. ISBN 9781405185745 (doi: 10.1002/9781118345313.ch7)

Abstract

<p>The use of the mouse as the dominant animal model for immunologic studies was due in no small part to an inner ear defect in the Japanese waltzing mouse. The tendency of these mice to, when excited, scramble around the cage in a random fashion until exhausted is caused by a single recessive gene that causes an inner ear defect, leading to the curious behavior. In the process of maintaining this behavior through many generations of breeding, mouse fanciers unwittingly, but significantly, reduced the genetic heterogeneity of the species. This reduced heterogeneity made the growth of a tumor derived from a Japanese waltzing mouse far more reproducible. Utilizing this model and knowledge in the early 1900s, investigators began mating mice for many generations, creating inbred strains of mice with known susceptibility to various diseases. These studies led to the theory of the genetic control of tumor susceptibility, and, ultimately, to the use of mice to study what would eventually become the field of immunology.</p> <p>In this chapter, we discuss examples of clinically and/or experimentally relevant viral and bacterial infections that are used for the purposes of vaccine development and analysis.</p>

• Item Type: Book Sections
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Macleod, Dr Megan
• Authors: Bosio, C.M., Macleod, M., Marrack, P., and Kedl, R.M.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• ISBN: 9781405185745