title: Minipigs in Translational Immunosafety Sciences: A Perspective.
abstract: The porcine immune system has been studied especially with regard to infectious diseases of the domestic pig, highlighting the economic importance of the pig in agriculture. Recently, in particular, minipigs have received attention as alternative species to dogs or nonhuman primates in drug safety evaluations. The increasing number of new drug targets investigated to modulate immunological pathways has triggered renewed interest to further explore the porcine immune system. Comparative immunological studies of minipigs with other species broaden the translational models investigated in drug safety evaluations. The porcine immune system overall seems functionally similar to other mammalian species, but there are some anatomical, immunophenotypical, and functional differences. Here, we briefly review current knowledge of the innate and adaptive immune system in pigs and minipigs. In conclusion, more systematic and cross-species comparisons are needed to assess the significance of immunological findings in minipigs in the context of translational safety sciences.
authors.affiliation: Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Tina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rubic-Schneider
authors.affiliation: Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Brigitte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Christen
authors.affiliation: Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Brees
authors.affiliation: Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland michael.kammueller@novartis.com.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kammüller
mesh_terms: D000486:Allergy and Immunology; D000818:Animals; D055808:Drug Discovery; D013552:Swine; D013556:Swine, Miniature / Q000276:immunology*; D018675:Toxicity Tests; D014116:Toxicology; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical
keywords: immunocompetence; immunology; immunotoxicology; minipig; pig; swine; translational drug safety assessment