A novel mouse model for stable engraftment of a human immune system and human hepatocytes

PLoS One. 2015 Mar 17;10(3):e0119820. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0119820. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Hepatic infections by hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and Plasmodium parasites leading to acute or chronic diseases constitute a global health challenge. The species tropism of these hepatotropic pathogens is restricted to chimpanzees and humans, thus model systems to study their pathological mechanisms are severely limited. Although these pathogens infect hepatocytes, disease pathology is intimately related to the degree and quality of the immune response. As a first step to decipher the immune response to infected hepatocytes, we developed an animal model harboring both a human immune system (HIS) and human hepatocytes (HUHEP) in BALB/c Rag2-/- IL-2Rγc-/- NOD.sirpa uPAtg/tg mice. The extent and kinetics of human hepatocyte engraftment were similar between HUHEP and HIS-HUHEP mice. Transplanted human hepatocytes were polarized and mature in vivo, resulting in 20-50% liver chimerism in these models. Human myeloid and lymphoid cell lineages developed at similar frequencies in HIS and HIS-HUHEP mice, and splenic and hepatic compartments were humanized with mature B cells, NK cells and naïve T cells, as well as monocytes and dendritic cells. Taken together, these results demonstrate that HIS-HUHEP mice can be stably (> 5 months) and robustly engrafted with a humanized immune system and chimeric human liver. This novel HIS-HUHEP model provides a platform to investigate human immune responses against hepatotropic pathogens and to test novel drug strategies or vaccine candidates.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • B-Lymphocytes / immunology
  • B-Lymphocytes / physiology
  • B-Lymphocytes / transplantation
  • Cell Lineage
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Chimerism
  • Disease Models, Animal*
  • Hepatocytes / immunology*
  • Hepatocytes / parasitology
  • Hepatocytes / virology
  • Humans
  • Immune System / cytology
  • Immune System / physiology*
  • Killer Cells, Natural / immunology
  • Killer Cells, Natural / physiology
  • Killer Cells, Natural / transplantation
  • Kinetics
  • Liver Diseases / immunology*
  • Liver Diseases / parasitology
  • Liver Diseases / virology
  • Mice*
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Mice, Inbred NOD
  • T-Lymphocytes / immunology
  • T-Lymphocytes / physiology
  • T-Lymphocytes / transplantation

Grants and funding

This study was supported by Bill & Melinda Gates foundation global health program grant # 37869. Agence Nationale de la recherche programme Emergence grant # ANR-11-EMMA-026. Agence Nationale de la recherche programme LABEX grant # ANR-10-LBX-73. Agence Nationale de Recherches sur le Sida et les hépatites virales grant # 2013–105. European Commission Seventh Framework Programme PathCO grant # HEALTH-F3-2012-305578. AXENIS provided support in the form of salaries for authors Nicolas Legrand and Erwan Corcuff, but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section.