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Esteves PJ, Abrantes J, Baldauf HM, BenMohamed L, Chen Y, Christensen N, González-Gallego J, Giacani L, Hu J, Kaplan G, Keppler OT, Knight KL, Kong XP, Lanning DK, Le Pendu J, de Matos AL, Liu J, Liu S, Lopes AM, Lu S, Lukehart S, Manabe YC, Neves F, McFadden G, Pan R, Peng X, de Sousa-Pereira P, Pinheiro A, Rahman M, Ruvoën-Clouet N, Subbian S, Tuñón MJ, van der Loo W, Vaine M, Via LE, Wang S, Mage R. The wide utility of rabbits as models of human diseases. Exp Mol Med 2018; 50:1-10. [PMID: 29789565 PMCID: PMC5964082 DOI: 10.1038/s12276-018-0094-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 90] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2017] [Revised: 02/21/2018] [Accepted: 02/27/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies using the European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus contributed to elucidating numerous fundamental aspects of antibody structure and diversification mechanisms and continue to be valuable for the development and testing of therapeutic humanized polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies. Additionally, during the last two decades, the use of the European rabbit as an animal model has been increasingly extended to many human diseases. This review documents the continuing wide utility of the rabbit as a reliable disease model for development of therapeutics and vaccines and studies of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying many human diseases. Examples include syphilis, tuberculosis, HIV-AIDS, acute hepatic failure and diseases caused by noroviruses, ocular herpes, and papillomaviruses. The use of rabbits for vaccine development studies, which began with Louis Pasteur’s rabies vaccine in 1881, continues today with targets that include the potentially blinding HSV-1 virus infection and HIV-AIDS. Additionally, two highly fatal viral diseases, rabbit hemorrhagic disease and myxomatosis, affect the European rabbit and provide unique models to understand co-evolution between a vertebrate host and viral pathogens. Rabbits offer a powerful complement to rodents as a model for studying human immunology, disease pathology, and responses to infectious disease. A review from Pedro Esteves at the University of Porto, Portugal, Rose Mage of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, Bethesda, USA and colleagues highlights some of the areas of research where rabbits offer an edge over rats and mice. Rabbits have a particularly sophisticated adaptive immune system, which could provide useful insights into human biology and produce valuable research and clinical reagents. They are also excellent models for studying - infectious diseases such as syphilis and tuberculosis, which produce pathology that closely resembles that of human patients. Rabbit-specific infections such as myxomatosis are giving researchers insights into how pathogens and hosts can shape each other’s evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedro J Esteves
- CIBIO, InBIO, Research Network in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, Universidade do Porto, Campus de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal. .,Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, s/n, 4169-007, Porto, Portugal. .,Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada em Ciências e Tecnologias da Saúde (CESPU), Gandra, Portugal.
| | - Joana Abrantes
- CIBIO, InBIO, Research Network in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, Universidade do Porto, Campus de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal
| | - Hanna-Mari Baldauf
- Max von Pettenkofer Institute and Gene Center, Virology, National Reference Center for Retroviruses, Faculty of Medicine, LMU München, 81377, Munich, Germany
| | - Lbachir BenMohamed
- Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA.,Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA.,Institute for Immunology, University of California, Irvine School of Irvine, School of Medicine, Irvine, CA, 92697, USA
| | - Yuxing Chen
- Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA
| | - Neil Christensen
- Departments of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, and Comparative Medicine, Penn State University, Hershey, PA, USA
| | - Javier González-Gallego
- Institute of Biomedicine (IBIOMED) and Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), University of León, 24071, León, Spain
| | - Lorenzo Giacani
- Departments of Medicine and Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
| | - Jiafen Hu
- Departments of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, and Comparative Medicine, Penn State University, Hershey, PA, USA
| | - Gilla Kaplan
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Oliver T Keppler
- Max von Pettenkofer Institute and Gene Center, Virology, National Reference Center for Retroviruses, Faculty of Medicine, LMU München, 81377, Munich, Germany
| | - Katherine L Knight
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL, 60153, USA
| | - Xiang-Peng Kong
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY10016, USA
| | - Dennis K Lanning
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL, 60153, USA
| | - Jacques Le Pendu
- CRCINA, Inserm, Université d'Angers, Université de Nantes, Nantes, France
| | - Ana Lemos de Matos
- The Biodesign Institute, Center for Immunotherapy, Vaccines, and Virotherapy, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287-5401, USA
| | - Jia Liu
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), Little Rock, AR, 72205, USA
| | - Shuying Liu
- Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA
| | - Ana M Lopes
- CIBIO, InBIO, Research Network in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, Universidade do Porto, Campus de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal.,Department of Anatomy and Unit for Multidisciplinary Research in Biomedicine (UMIB), Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (ICBAS), University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Shan Lu
- Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA
| | - Sheila Lukehart
- Departments of Medicine and Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
| | - Yukari C Manabe
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Fabiana Neves
- CIBIO, InBIO, Research Network in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, Universidade do Porto, Campus de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal
| | - Grant McFadden
- The Biodesign Institute, Center for Immunotherapy, Vaccines, and Virotherapy, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287-5401, USA
| | - Ruimin Pan
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY10016, USA
| | - Xuwen Peng
- Departments of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, and Comparative Medicine, Penn State University, Hershey, PA, USA
| | - Patricia de Sousa-Pereira
- CIBIO, InBIO, Research Network in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, Universidade do Porto, Campus de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal.,Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, s/n, 4169-007, Porto, Portugal.,Max von Pettenkofer Institute and Gene Center, Virology, National Reference Center for Retroviruses, Faculty of Medicine, LMU München, 81377, Munich, Germany
| | - Ana Pinheiro
- CIBIO, InBIO, Research Network in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, Universidade do Porto, Campus de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal.,Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL, 60153, USA
| | - Masmudur Rahman
- The Biodesign Institute, Center for Immunotherapy, Vaccines, and Virotherapy, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287-5401, USA
| | | | - Selvakumar Subbian
- The Public Health Research Institute (PHRI) at New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (RBHS), Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USA
| | - Maria Jesús Tuñón
- Institute of Biomedicine (IBIOMED) and Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), University of León, 24071, León, Spain
| | - Wessel van der Loo
- CIBIO, InBIO, Research Network in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, Universidade do Porto, Campus de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal
| | - Michael Vaine
- Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA
| | - Laura E Via
- Tubercolosis Research Section, Laboratory of Clinical Infectious Diseases, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.,Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Shixia Wang
- Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA
| | - Rose Mage
- Laboratory of Immune System Biology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
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