Humanized Mouse Models as a Tool to Study Proinflammatory Cytokine Overexpression

Abstract

Dysregulated proinflammatory cytokine expression may result in the development of severe pathologies, such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and neurodegenerative diseases. Transgenic mice and, in particular, those with controllable systemic overexpression of proinflammatory cytokines have recently become an essential instrument to study the molecular mechanisms underlying disease development. Importantly, many of the models are humanized by introducing a human cytokine gene, while leaving or removing the respective endogenous mouse gene. Humanized mice are especially valuable for biomedical research as they provide a relevant model to develop therapies based on blocking the pathogenic activity of a cytokine or to establish the functional significance of genome polymorphisms. The review discusses the available humanized mouse models with overexpression of key proinflammatory cytokines (TNF, IL-1β, and IL-6) and inflammatory cytokines with more specific functions (IL-8, IL-17, and IL-32) and their significance for basic and clinical research.