Experimental Arthritis Mouse Models Driven by Adaptive and/or Innate Inflammation

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Rheumatology
• Animal Models

Background:

• Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, systemic autoimmune disease primarily impacting synovial joints.
• RA exhibits heterogeneous clinical presentations due to complex immune system interactions and disease flares.
• Existing research necessitates robust animal models to investigate RA pathogenesis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe methodologies for inducing various mouse models of arthritis.
• To outline scoring systems for macroscopic disease monitoring.
• To detail histological and flow cytometry techniques for analyzing cellular infiltration and osteoclast activity in arthritis models.

Main Methods:

• Induction of collagen-induced arthritis, antigen-induced arthritis, and Streptococcal cell wall-induced arthritis mouse models.
• Macroscopic disease assessment using established scoring systems.
• Histological analysis of knee sections (H&E and TRAP staining) and flow cytometry for synovial myeloid cell profiling.

Main Results:

• Successfully induced and characterized distinct arthritis mouse models.
• Established reliable scoring systems for longitudinal disease monitoring.
• Quantified cellular infiltration and osteoclast-like cell presence using histological and flow cytometry methods.

Conclusions:

• The described mouse models provide valuable tools for dissecting rheumatoid arthritis pathogenesis.
• These models facilitate the investigation of immune cell roles and therapeutic interventions in arthritis.
• Standardized methods ensure reproducible and comprehensive analysis of arthritis development and progression.