Humanized mice and its application in the study of virus infection

Humanized mice are created by transplanting human cells or tissues into immunodeficient mice that accept human grafts without rejection.The engrafted human cells/tissues can work as effective matrix suit for the infection and proliferation of human pathogens, thus can provide more reliable results similar to human trails compared to normal animal models.Numerous studies involved the viral pathogenesis, immune responses after infection, antiviral therapy, vaccine development, and gene therapy have been conducted in this dramatical animal model, especially some human specific virus like Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Hepatitis C Virus, Dengue virus can be studied on humanized mice. Key words: Humanized mice; Viral infection; Immune responses; Antiviral therapy