Mouse models for the genetic study of tuberculosis susceptibility.
Tuberculosis, mainly caused by the pathogenic bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis, remains an inestimable public health problem, despite the established use of the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine, multidrug therapy and the existence of global tuberculosis control programmes. Statistics show that nearly 2 billion people (approximately one-third of the world's population) are infected with M. tuberculosis. For unknown reasons, only about 10 per cent of those infected by M. tuberculosis will develop tuberculosis, resulting in 9 million new cases yearly and 2 million deaths. A better understanding of the host--mycobacterial--environmental interplay is central to developing better antituberculosis vaccines and treatments. This review will discuss how a clearer idea of this interplay is emerging with new genomic strategies in mouse models.
Di Pietrantonio
Tania
T
McGill University Health Centre Research Institute, 1650 Cedar Ave, L11-520, Montreal, PQ, H3G 1A4, Canada.
Schurr
Erwin
E
D000818:Animals; D001500:BCG Vaccine / Q000494:pharmacology; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000378:metabolism; D008168:Lung / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D010641:Phenotype; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics*; D032581:Tuberculosis Vaccines
D001500:BCG Vaccine; D032581:Tuberculosis Vaccines; D007371:Interferon-gamma