Building a better mouse (and understanding of RA)

According to a 2006 study published in the January 2007 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism, a genetically altered mouse with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) shows promise as an important new tool in understanding the disease. The research for this article was conducted at the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minn and was authored by Veena Taneja, an assistant professor in the department of immunology at the clinic.

Efforts to develop a cure for RA have run into major obstacles, including the obstacle of viable test subjects. For most studies, the most useful and available study subjects used are mice. Unfortunately, mice do not naturally mimic the human course of RA.

To evade this obstacle, Taneja's team sought to build a better lab mouse for the study of the illness. They focused first on a specific human gene mutation previously associated with a higher risk for rheumatoid disease. The gene is known to provoke the activation of certain auto-antibodies, a step immediately preceding the onset of rheumatoid arthritis. Using advanced gene therapy technology, the researches were able to removed the mouse equivalent of this gene and replaced it with the relevant human gene. The offspring of these genetically altered rodents were then induced to develop arthritis by injecting collagen into their systems.

The team found that all of the mice who went on to develop arthritis produced an immune response that strongly resembled that seen in human disease. As well, female mice were found to have triple the likelihood for developing rheumatoid arthritis -- just as is found among humans.

The researchers believe the new mice are ideal models for the study of human rheumatoid arthritis.

Article References
Gene-Altered Mouse a Boon to Rheumatoid Arthritis Research, HealthDay site accessed on 1/2/2007.