Department of Biology

Humanized mouse models to investigate viral pathogenesis and immunity

Dr. Florian Douam

October 20, 2021
4-5pm

Hosted By Dr. Louis-Marie Bobay

Abstract

Many challenging viral diseases, such as viral hepatitis, AIDS, Dengue fever or yellow fever are caused by viruses that display a very narrow host tropism often restricted to human. For this
reason, studying the biology of human-tropic viruses in vivo, and understanding how they interact with human components over time and space, has remained a challenging endeavor.
Humanized mice, i.e. mice engrafted with human tissues, have emerged as powerful tools for studying the infectious cycle of a broad range of human(-tropic) pathogens in vivo. Recent improvements in engraftment protocols and genetic engineering have opened unprecedented opportunities for the generation of more advanced humanized mouse systems able to recapitulate more faithfully human biological processes, such human immune responses against viral pathogens. Our laboratory aims at using and developing advanced humanized mouse models to identify and characterize fundamental human immunological mechanisms and human-virus interactions that govern viral pathogenicity and immunogenicity during virus infection. Here, I will present some of recent humanized mouse systems we have been developing to investigate the infectious cycle and immune responses to two clinically relevant viruses, yellow fever virus and SARS-CoV-2.