Editorial: Advances in Human Immune System Mouse Models for Studying Human Hematopoiesis and Cancer Immunotherapy

概要

Gaining knowledge of human physiology and pathophysiology is often hampered by restricted access to human tissues or limited to performing in vitro assays. Furthermore, the development of novel therapeutics for cancer immunotherapy, autoimmune- and inflammatory diseases is tightly restricted by the use of human samples before moving to clinical trials, which is generally slow and costly. Human Immune System(HIS) mice - immunodeficient mice reconstituted with a human immune system– offer the unique opportunity to comprehensively study human hematopoiesis, infectious diseases, autoimmunity, and anti-tumor immunity in vivo. Recent progress in HIS mouse models, in which recipient immunodeficient mice carry several gene mutations or express human cytokines and self- recognition molecules, have improved human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSPC) engraftment as well as functional immune cell development in primary and secondary lymphoid tissues.

The articles in this Research Topic describe the latest developments in the field and indicate future directions to further improve HIS models and to apply them for more precisely characterizing human hematopoiesis as well as the human immune response against cancer.