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B-Cell Responses in Humanized Mice: The Glass is Half Full

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Humanized Mice for HIV Research

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Abstract

Human humoral immune responses in humanized-mouse models have historically been weak and poorly responsive to infections or immunizations. However, newer models of humanized mice, such as those generated in severely immunodeficient mice with a targeted disruption of the IL2rγ c gene have recently been reported to produce antigen-specific antibodies, with some of these antibodies capable of neutralizing pathogens. This chapter will review recent progress in the capacity of the latest generation of humanized-mouse models to recapitulate the human humoral immune system, in terms of human B-cell ontogeny, lymphoid organ microarchitecture, and the generation of human immunoglobulins. Problems do persist in each of these areas that at present continue to impose some limitations on the ability of humanized mice to model human humoral immunity. On the other hand, we highlight current grounds for optimism about B-cell responses in these models, and see the current state of the art as “the glass being half full,” rather than being half empty.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support by a Harvard University CFAR (HU CFAR, NIH/NIAID P30-AI060354) Scholar Award to E.S. and by NIH/NIAID P01-AI104715 (Project 2 and Core B), HU CFAR (NIH/NIAID P30-AI060354) Core support, and a Ragon Institute Initiative to A.M.T.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Immunology and Inflammatory Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 149 13th Street #8301, 02129, Charlestown, MA, USA

    Edward Seung & Andrew M. Tager

  2. Pulmonary and Critical Care Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 149 13th Street #8301, 02129, Charlestown, MA, USA

    Andrew M. Tager

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  1. Edward Seung
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  2. Andrew M. Tager
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Correspondence to Edward Seung .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, USA

    Larisa Y. Poluektova

  2. Center for AIDS Research, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

    J. Victor Garcia

  3. Research Center for AIDS Laboratory of Viral Pathogenesis, Kyoto University Institute for Virus Research, Sakyo-ku, Japan

    Yoshio Koyanagi

  4. Division of Hematology, University Hospital Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland

    Markus G. Manz

  5. Center for Immunology and Inflammatory Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA

    Andrew M. Tager

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Seung, E., Tager, A. (2014). B-Cell Responses in Humanized Mice: The Glass is Half Full. In: Poluektova, L., Garcia, J., Koyanagi, Y., Manz, M., Tager, A. (eds) Humanized Mice for HIV Research. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1655-9_27

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