title: Cottontail rabbit papillomavirus (CRPV) model system to test antiviral and immunotherapeutic strategies.
abstract: The cottontail rabbit papillomavirus (CRPV)/rabbit model has proven to be the most versatile preclinical model to test antiviral, immunopotentiating and immunotherapeutic strategies for papilloma-virus infections. We have utilized this model for many years and have recently observed significant improvements in the utility of the model. Improvements have included various techniques to infect rabbit skin sites with strains of wild-type and mutant CRPV DNA prepared using standard molecular biological procedures. A better understanding of the virus life cycle in vivo has been gained also from these studies such that we now have several defined strains of CRPV including i) antigenically diverse strains of CRPV, ii) mutant strains of CRPV with reduced growth rates, and iii) mutant strains of CRPV that demonstrate accelerated malignant progression rates. Collectively, these mutant genomes provide laboratories with a powerful pre-clinical model to assess a variety of antiviral therapies. Many of the treatments already tested in the CRPV/rabbit model have shown parallel efficacy against HPV infections in a clinical setting. Some of our recent experiences with the CRPV/rabbit model are outlined in this brief overview.
authors.affiliation: The Jake Gittlen Cancer Foundation and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Pennsylvania State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA. ndc1@psu.edu
authors.forename: Neil D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Christensen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012777:Cottontail rabbit papillomavirus / Q000187:drug effects*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D007167:Immunotherapy; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011817:Rabbits; D012867:Skin / Q000821:virology
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents