[Animal models in the study of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation]

For the past seven decades, animal models of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (SCT) have contributed to the development of clinical SCT. Murine models are particularly useful to study the pathophysiology of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and the mechanism of graft-versus-leukemia (GVL) effects after SCT because of the variety of genetically engineered mice and numerous research reagents for immune profiling. SCT models using non-human primates are useful in preclinical studies to evaluate the efficacy and safety of novel therapies developed in murine models. In the present manuscript, the advantage and disadvantages of each animal SCT model is discussed, mainly focusing on the studies of GVHD and GVL effects.