title: Animal models of arthritis caused by systemic alteration of the immune system.
abstract: Animal models are instrumental in understanding the etiology and pathogenetic mechanisms of rheumatoid arthritis. Several new mouse models have either been produced, including transgenics, gene-knockouts, and gene knock-ins, or established as a spontaneous disease due to natural gene mutations. These models are suitable for addressing the roles of T cells, autoantibodies, cytokines and innate immunity in the development and progression of rheumatoid arthritis. In particular, they now provide insights into how systemic alterations of the immune system result in a local development of chronic arthritis that leads to joint destruction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Pathology, Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan. shimon@frontier.kyoto-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Shimon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sakaguchi
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sakaguchi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001169:Arthritis, Experimental / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000276:immunology; D016207:Cytokines / Q000502:physiology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D051379:Mice; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D016207:Cytokines