Humanized Mice as Preclinical Models in Transplantation

N Safinia1, P D Becker1, T Vaikunthanathan1

  • 1MRC Centre for Transplantation, King's College London, Guy's Hospital, 5th Floor Tower Wing, London, SE1 9RT, UK.

Animal models have been instrumental in our understanding of the mechanisms of rejection and the testing of novel treatment options in the context of transplantation. We have now entered an exciting era with research on humanized mice driving advances in translational studies and in our understanding of the function of human cells in response to pathogens and cancer as well as the recognition of human allogeneic tissues in vivo. In this chapter we provide a historical overview of humanized mouse models of transplantation to date, outlining the distinct strains and share our experiences in the study of human transplantation immunology.