The UW Humanized Mouse Core specializes in production of humanized immune mouse (HIM) models.
Humanized mouse models
The NeoThy Model
This newly described model, created at the University of Wisconsin by Core Director Matthew Brown, is an iteration of the BLT-type model, incorporating neonatal human tissues. See the NeoThy manuscript for more information.
BLT Models
Sub-lethally irradiated NOD/SCID/IL2γc null (NSG) mice were surgically implanted with cryopreserved human thymus and tissue fragments under the kidney capsule. CD34+ hematopoietic cells were magnetically separated from umbilical cord blood and injected intravenously. Mice were monitored and the level of human hematopoietic cells in the mice was determined by multicolor flow cytometric analysis.
By 10-12 weeks post-surgery/injection, the humanized mice showed a functional human thymic organoid with typical human anatomical features (Figure A below).
Humanized mice demonstrate systemic repopulation with human lymphohematopoietic cells, including B cells, T cells, monocytes, and dendritic cells (Figure B below). In our functional study, the humanized mice showed responses to a known Th-1 antigen (Tetanus Toxoid) and a Th-17 antigen (Collagen V), indicating that T helper cells educated in the autologous human thymus organoid are functional and provide an adequate level of immunocompetence for study of a wide range of human immunologic processes.
