title: A chimeric human-mouse model of Sjögren's syndrome.
abstract: Despite recent advances in the understanding of Sjögren's Syndrome (SjS), the pathogenic mechanisms remain elusive and an ideal model for early drug discovery is not yet available. To establish a humanized mouse model of SjS, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from healthy volunteers or patients with SjS were transferred into immunodeficient NOD-scid IL-2rγ(null) mouse recipients to produce chimeric mice. While no difference was observed in the distribution of cells, chimeric mice transferred with PBMCs from SjS patients produced enhanced cytokine levels, most significantly IFN-γ and IL-10. Histological examination revealed enhanced inflammatory responses in the lacrimal and salivary glands of SjS chimeras, as measured by digital image analysis and blinded histopathological scoring. Infiltrates were primarily CD4+, with minimal detection of CD8+ T-cells and B-cells. These results demonstrate a novel chimeric mouse model of human SjS that provides a unique in vivo environment to test experimental therapeutics and investigate T-cell disease pathology.
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology and Immunology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Wexner Medical Center at The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Young
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology and Immunology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Wexner Medical Center at The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Lai-Chu
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology and Immunology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Wexner Medical Center at The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bruss
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology and Immunology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Wexner Medical Center at The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Benjamin H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Kaffenberger
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology and Immunology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Wexner Medical Center at The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hampton
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Biosciences and the Comparative Pathology and Mouse Phenotyping Shared Resource, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Wexner Medical Center at The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Brad
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bolon
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology and Immunology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA; Wexner Medical Center at The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. Electronic address: Wael.Jarjour@osumc.edu.
authors.forename: Wael N
authors.initials: WN
authors.lastname: Jarjour
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002678:Chimera; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000276:immunology
keywords: Animal model; Chimera; Humanized mouse; Sjögren's syndrome