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Development of the Rabbit NASH Model Resembling Human NASH and Atherosclerosis. Biomedicines 2023; 11:biomedicines11020384. [PMID: 36830921 PMCID: PMC9953079 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines11020384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2022] [Revised: 01/23/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2023] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a chronic liver disease which may progress into liver fibrosis and cancer. Since NASH patients have a high prevalence of atherosclerosis and ensuing cardiovascular diseases, simultaneous management of NASH and atherosclerosis is required. Currently, rodents are the most common animal models for NASH and accompanying liver fibrosis, but there are great differences in lipoprotein profiles between rodents and humans, which makes it difficult to reproduce the pathology of NASH patients with atherosclerosis. Rabbits can be a promising candidate for assessing NASH and atherosclerosis because lipoprotein metabolism is more similar to humans compared with rodents. To develop the NASH model using rabbits, we treated the Japanese White rabbit with a newly developed high-fat high-cholesterol diet (HFHCD) containing palm oil 7.5%, cholesterol 0.5%, and ferrous citrate 0.5% for 16 weeks. HFHCD-fed rabbits exhibited NASH at 8 weeks after commencing the treatment and developed advanced fibrosis by the 14th week of treatment. In addition to hypercholesterolemia, atherosclerotic lesion developed in the aorta after 8 weeks. Therefore, this rabbit NASH model might contribute to exploring the concurrent treatment options for human NASH and atherosclerosis.
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Xian X, Wang Y, Liu G. Genetically Engineered Hamster Models of Dyslipidemia and Atherosclerosis. Methods Mol Biol 2022; 2419:433-459. [PMID: 35237980 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1924-7_26] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Animal models of human diseases play an extremely important role in biomedical research. Among them, mice are widely used animal models for translational research, especially because of ease of generation of genetically engineered mice. However, because of the great differences in biology between mice and humans, translation of findings to humans remains a major issue. Therefore, the exploration of models with biological and metabolic characteristics closer to those of humans has never stopped.Although pig and nonhuman primates are biologically similar to humans, their genetic engineering is technically difficult, the cost of breeding is high, and the experimental time is long. As a result, the application of these species as model animals, especially genetically engineered model animals, in biomedical research is greatly limited.In terms of lipid metabolism and cardiovascular diseases, hamsters have several characteristics different from rats and mice, but similar to those in humans. The hamster is therefore an ideal animal model for studying lipid metabolism and cardiovascular disease because of its small size and short reproduction period. However, the phenomenon of zygote division, which was unexpectedly blocked during the manipulation of hamster embryos for some unknown reasons, had plagued researchers for decades and no genetically engineered hamsters have therefore been generated as animal models of human diseases for a long time. After solving the problem of in vitro development of hamster zygotes, we successfully prepared enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) transgenic hamsters by microinjection of lentiviral vectors into the zona pellucida space of zygotes. On this basis, we started the development of cardiovascular disease models using the hamster embryo culture system combined with the novel genome editing technique of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR )/CRISPR associated protein 9 (Cas9). In this chapter, we will introduce some of the genetically engineered hamster models with dyslipidemia and the corresponding characteristics of these models. We hope that the genetically engineered hamster models can be further recognized and complement other genetically engineered animal models such as mice, rats, and rabbits. This will lead to new avenues and pathways for the study of lipid metabolism and its related diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xunde Xian
- Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Molecular Cardiovascular Sciences, Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Yuhui Wang
- Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Molecular Cardiovascular Sciences, Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - George Liu
- Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Molecular Cardiovascular Sciences, Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
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Liu G, Lai P, Guo J, Wang Y, Xian X. Genetically-engineered hamster models: applications and perspective in dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis-related cardiovascular disease. MEDICAL REVIEW (BERLIN, GERMANY) 2021; 1:92-110. [PMID: 37724074 PMCID: PMC10388752 DOI: 10.1515/mr-2021-0004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2021] [Accepted: 08/03/2021] [Indexed: 09/20/2023]
Abstract
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in both developed and developing countries, in which atherosclerosis triggered by dyslipidemia is the major pathological basis. Over the past 40 years, small rodent animals, such as mice, have been widely used for understanding of human atherosclerosis-related cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) with the advantages of low cost and ease of maintenance and manipulation. However, based on the concept of precision medicine and high demand of translational research, the applications of mouse models for human ASCVD study would be limited due to the natural differences in metabolic features between mice and humans even though they are still the most powerful tools in this research field, indicating that other species with biological similarity to humans need to be considered for studying ASCVD in future. With the development and breakthrough of novel gene editing technology, Syrian golden hamster, a small rodent animal replicating the metabolic characteristics of humans, has been genetically modified, suggesting that gene-targeted hamster models will provide new insights into the precision medicine and translational research of ASCVD. The purpose of this review was to summarize the genetically-modified hamster models with dyslipidemia to date, and their potential applications and perspective for ASCVD.
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Affiliation(s)
- George Liu
- Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Key Laboratory of Molecular Cardiovascular Sciences, Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China
| | - Pingping Lai
- Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Key Laboratory of Molecular Cardiovascular Sciences, Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China
| | - Jiabao Guo
- Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Key Laboratory of Molecular Cardiovascular Sciences, Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China
| | - Yuhui Wang
- Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Key Laboratory of Molecular Cardiovascular Sciences, Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China
| | - Xunde Xian
- Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Key Laboratory of Molecular Cardiovascular Sciences, Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China
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Otake M, Kawaguchi H, Enya S, Kangawa A, Koga T, Matsuo K, Yamada S, Rahman MM, Miura N, Shibata M, Tanimoto A. High Pathological Reproducibility of Diet-induced Atherosclerosis in Microminipigs via Cloning Technology. In Vivo 2021; 35:2025-2033. [PMID: 34182477 DOI: 10.21873/invivo.12471] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2021] [Revised: 04/26/2021] [Accepted: 04/27/2021] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIM The reproducibility of athero - sclerotic lesions was evaluated after the production of cloned-microminipigs and their offspring. MATERIALS AND METHODS Cloned-microminipig-parents were produced by microminipigsomatic cell nuclei. These parents were crossbred and delivered males (F1-offspring) were divided into two groups: normal chow diet (NcD)-fed and high-fat/high-cholesterol diet (HcD)-fed groups. One of the F1-offsprings was subjected to cloning, and delivered males (F1-clones) were fed with HcD. After 8 weeks, all animals were necropsied for patho - physiological studies compared to non-cloned-microminipigs. RESULTS HcD-fed F1-offspring and F1-clones, but not NcD-fed F1-offspring, exhibited increased serum lipid levels and systemic atherosclerosis, which were comparable to those of HcD-fed non-cloned-microminipigs. Homogeneity of variance analysis demonstrated that standard deviation values of serum lipoprotein and aortic atherosclerosis area from HcD-fed animals decreased in F1-offspring and F1-clones. CONCLUSION HcD-induced atherogenesis was highly reproducible in F1-offsprings and F1-clones, indicating that the atherosclerosis-prone genomic background was preserved in the cloned-microminipigs, which can be used for studies on human atherosclerosis and related diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masayoshi Otake
- Swine and Poultry Department, Shizuoka Prefectural Research Institute of Animal Industry, Swine and Poultry Research Center, Kikugawa, Japan;
| | - Hiroaki Kawaguchi
- Department of Hygiene and Health Promotion Medicine, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima, Japan.,Laboratory of Veterinary Pathology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Kitasato University, Towadashi, Japan
| | - Satoko Enya
- Swine and Poultry Department, Shizuoka Prefectural Research Institute of Animal Industry, Swine and Poultry Research Center, Kikugawa, Japan
| | - Akihisa Kangawa
- Swine and Poultry Department, Shizuoka Prefectural Research Institute of Animal Industry, Swine and Poultry Research Center, Kikugawa, Japan
| | - Tadashi Koga
- Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories, Ltd., Kagoshima, Japan
| | - Kei Matsuo
- Department of Pathology, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima, Japan
| | - Sohsuke Yamada
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Kanazawa Medical University, Kahoku, Japan
| | - Md Mahfuzur Rahman
- Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Joint faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan
| | - Naoki Miura
- Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Joint faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan
| | - Masatoshi Shibata
- Swine and Poultry Department, Shizuoka Prefectural Research Institute of Animal Industry, Swine and Poultry Research Center, Kikugawa, Japan
| | - Akihide Tanimoto
- Department of Pathology, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima, Japan;
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Xu J, Zhang J, Yang D, Song J, Pallas B, Zhang C, Hu J, Peng X, Christensen ND, Han R, Chen YE. Gene Editing in Rabbits: Unique Opportunities for Translational Biomedical Research. Front Genet 2021; 12:642444. [PMID: 33584832 PMCID: PMC7876448 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2021.642444] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2020] [Accepted: 01/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The rabbit is a classic animal model for biomedical research, but the production of gene targeted transgenic rabbits had been extremely challenging until the recent advent of gene editing tools. More than fifty gene knockout or knock-in rabbit models have been reported in the past decade. Gene edited (GE) rabbit models, compared to their counterpart mouse models, may offer unique opportunities in translational biomedical research attributed primarily to their relatively large size and long lifespan. More importantly, GE rabbit models have been found to mimic several disease pathologies better than their mouse counterparts particularly in fields focused on genetically inherited diseases, cardiovascular diseases, ocular diseases, and others. In this review we present selected examples of research areas where GE rabbit models are expected to make immediate contributions to the understanding of the pathophysiology of human disease, and support the development of novel therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jie Xu
- Center for Advanced Models for Translational Sciences and Therapeutics, University of Michigan Medical Center, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Jifeng Zhang
- Center for Advanced Models for Translational Sciences and Therapeutics, University of Michigan Medical Center, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Dongshan Yang
- Center for Advanced Models for Translational Sciences and Therapeutics, University of Michigan Medical Center, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Jun Song
- Center for Advanced Models for Translational Sciences and Therapeutics, University of Michigan Medical Center, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Brooke Pallas
- Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Chen Zhang
- Biomedical Sciences and Biophysics Graduate Program, Division of Cardiac Surgery, Department of Surgery, Dorothy M. Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - Jiafen Hu
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Penn State Cancer Institute, Hershey, PA, United States
| | - Xuwen Peng
- Department of Comparative Medicine, Penn State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, United States
| | - Neil D Christensen
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Penn State Cancer Institute, Hershey, PA, United States.,Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Penn State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, United States
| | - Renzhi Han
- Biomedical Sciences and Biophysics Graduate Program, Division of Cardiac Surgery, Department of Surgery, Dorothy M. Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - Y Eugene Chen
- Center for Advanced Models for Translational Sciences and Therapeutics, University of Michigan Medical Center, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
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Kabakov AY, Sengun E, Lu Y, Roder K, Bronk P, Baggett B, Turan NN, Moshal KS, Koren G. Three-Week-Old Rabbit Ventricular Cardiomyocytes as a Novel System to Study Cardiac Excitation and EC Coupling. Front Physiol 2021; 12:672360. [PMID: 34867432 PMCID: PMC8637404 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2021.672360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2021] [Accepted: 10/06/2021] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Cardiac arrhythmias significantly contribute to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The rabbit heart serves as an accepted model system for studying cardiac cell excitation and arrhythmogenicity. Accordingly, primary cultures of adult rabbit ventricular cardiomyocytes serve as a preferable model to study molecular mechanisms of human cardiac excitation. However, the use of adult rabbit cardiomyocytes is often regarded as excessively costly. Therefore, we developed and characterized a novel low-cost rabbit cardiomyocyte model, namely, 3-week-old ventricular cardiomyocytes (3wRbCMs). Ventricular myocytes were isolated from whole ventricles of 3-week-old New Zealand White rabbits of both sexes by standard enzymatic techniques. Using wheat germ agglutinin, we found a clear T-tubule structure in acutely isolated 3wRbCMs. Cells were adenovirally infected (multiplicity of infection of 10) to express Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) and cultured for 48 h. The cells showed action potential duration (APD90 = 253 ± 24 ms) and calcium transients similar to adult rabbit cardiomyocytes. Freshly isolated and 48-h-old-cultured cells expressed critical ion channel proteins: calcium voltage-gated channel subunit alpha1 C (Cavα1c), sodium voltage-gated channel alpha subunit 5 (Nav1.5), potassium voltage-gated channel subfamily D member 3 (Kv4.3), and subfamily A member 4 (Kv1.4), and also subfamily H member 2 (RERG. Kv11.1), KvLQT1 (K7.1) protein and inward-rectifier potassium channel (Kir2.1). The cells displayed an appropriate electrophysiological phenotype, including fast sodium current (I Na), transient outward potassium current (I to), L-type calcium channel peak current (I Ca,L), rapid and slow components of the delayed rectifier potassium current (I Kr and I Ks), and inward rectifier (I K1). Although expression of the channel proteins and some currents decreased during the 48 h of culturing, we conclude that 3wRbCMs are a new, low-cost alternative to the adult-rabbit-cardiomyocytes system, which allows the investigation of molecular mechanisms of cardiac excitation on morphological, biochemical, genetic, physiological, and biophysical levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anatoli Y Kabakov
- Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Cardiovascular Research Center, Rhode Island Hospital, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, United States
| | - Elif Sengun
- Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Cardiovascular Research Center, Rhode Island Hospital, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, United States.,Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Graduate Studies in Health Sciences, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Türkiye
| | - Yichun Lu
- Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Cardiovascular Research Center, Rhode Island Hospital, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, United States
| | - Karim Roder
- Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Cardiovascular Research Center, Rhode Island Hospital, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, United States
| | - Peter Bronk
- Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Cardiovascular Research Center, Rhode Island Hospital, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, United States
| | - Brett Baggett
- Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Cardiovascular Research Center, Rhode Island Hospital, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, United States
| | - Nilüfer N Turan
- Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Cardiovascular Research Center, Rhode Island Hospital, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, United States
| | - Karni S Moshal
- Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Cardiovascular Research Center, Rhode Island Hospital, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, United States
| | - Gideon Koren
- Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Cardiovascular Research Center, Rhode Island Hospital, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, United States
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Xu S, Weng J. Familial Hypercholesterolemia and Atherosclerosis: Animal Models and Therapeutic Advances. Trends Endocrinol Metab 2020; 31:331-333. [PMID: 32305096 DOI: 10.1016/j.tem.2020.02.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2020] [Accepted: 02/24/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), mainly arising from loss-of-function mutation of the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR), is a life-threatening inherited cardiometabolic disorder with limited therapies. In a recent study, Zhao et al. created a new model of FH and demonstrate that LDLR gene editing protects against both FH and atherosclerosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suowen Xu
- Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230001, China.
| | - Jianping Weng
- Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230001, China
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Shiomi M. The History of the WHHL Rabbit, an Animal Model of Familial Hypercholesterolemia (I) - Contribution to the Elucidation of the Pathophysiology of Human Hypercholesterolemia and Coronary Heart Disease. J Atheroscler Thromb 2019; 27:105-118. [PMID: 31748469 PMCID: PMC7049476 DOI: 10.5551/jat.rv17038-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Animal models that closely resemble both human disease findings and their onset mechanism have contributed to the advancement of biomedical science. The Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic (WHHL) rabbit and its advanced strains (the coronary atherosclerosis-prone and the myocardial infarction-prone WHHL rabbits) developed at Kobe University (Kobe, Japan), an animal model of human familial hypercholesterolemia, have greatly contributed to the elucidation of the pathophysiology of human lipoprotein metabolism, hypercholesterolemia, atherosclerosis, and coronary heart disease, as described below. 1) The main part of human lipoprotein metabolism has been elucidated, and the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor pathway hypothesis derived from studies using fibroblasts was proven in vivo. 2) Oxidized LDL accumulates in the arterial wall, monocyte adhesion molecules are expressed on arterial endothelial cells, and monocyte-derived macrophages infiltrate the arterial intima, resulting in the formation and progression of atherosclerosis. 3) Coronary lesions differ from aortic lesions in lesion composition. 4) Factors involved in the development of atherosclerosis differ between the coronary arteries and aorta. 5) The rupture of coronary lesions requires secondary mechanical forces, such as spasm, in addition to vulnerable plaques. 6) Specific lipid molecules in the blood have been identified as markers of the progression of coronary lesions. At the end of the breeding of the WHHL rabbit family at Kobe University, this review summarizes the history of the development of the WHHL rabbit family and their contribution to biomedical science.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masashi Shiomi
- Institute for Experimental Animals, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine
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