Control of Mycobacterial Infections in Mice Expressing Human Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) but Not Mouse TNF.

ABSTRACT: Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is an important cytokine for host defense against pathogens but is also associated with the development of human immunopathologies. TNF blockade effectively ameliorates many chronic inflammatory conditions but compromises host immunity to tuberculosis. The search for novel, more specific human TNF blockers requires the development of a reliable animal model. We used a novel mouse model with complete replacement of the mouse TNF gene by its human ortholog (human TNF [huTNF] knock-in [KI] mice) to determine resistance to Mycobacterium bovis BCG and M. tuberculosis infections and to investigate whether TNF inhibitors in clinical use reduce host immunity. Our results show that macrophages from huTNF KI mice responded to BCG and lipopolysaccharide similarly to wild-t

SUBMITTER: Olleros ML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4534677 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature