TY - JOUR
T1 - Peromyscus as a model system for human hepatitis C
T2 - An opportunity to advance our understanding of a complex host parasite system
AU - Vandegrift, Kurt J.
AU - Critchlow, Justin T.
AU - Kapoor, Amit
AU - Friedman, David A.
AU - Hudson, Peter J.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by an Erickson undergraduate discovery grant; NIH award AI107631 (Kapoor and Vandegrift); This work was funded by NSF grant 1619072 Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases program.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016
PY - 2017/1/1
Y1 - 2017/1/1
N2 - Worldwide, there are 185 million people infected with hepatitis C virus and approximately 350,000 people die each year from hepatitis C associated liver diseases. Human hepatitis C research has been hampered by the lack of an appropriate in vivo model system. Most of the in vivo research has been conducted on chimpanzees, which is complicated by ethical concerns, small sample sizes, high costs, and genetic heterogeneity. The house mouse system has led to greater understanding of a wide variety of human pathogens, but it is unreasonable to expect Mus musculus to be a good model system for every human pathogen. Alternative animal models can be developed in these cases. Ferrets (influenza), cotton rats (human respiratory virus), and woodchucks (hepatitis B) are all alternative models that have led to a greater understanding of human pathogens. Rodent models are tractable, genetically amenable and inbred and outbred strains can provide homogeneity in results. Recently, a rodent homolog of hepatitis C was discovered and isolated from the liver of a Peromyscus maniculatus. This represents the first small mammal (mouse) model system for human hepatitis C and it offers great potential to contribute to our understanding and ultimately aid in our efforts to combat this serious public health concern. Peromyscus are available commercially and can be used to inform questions about the origin, transmission, persistence, pathology, and rational treatment of hepatitis C. Here, we provide a disease ecologist's overview of this new virus and some suggestions for useful future experiments.
AB - Worldwide, there are 185 million people infected with hepatitis C virus and approximately 350,000 people die each year from hepatitis C associated liver diseases. Human hepatitis C research has been hampered by the lack of an appropriate in vivo model system. Most of the in vivo research has been conducted on chimpanzees, which is complicated by ethical concerns, small sample sizes, high costs, and genetic heterogeneity. The house mouse system has led to greater understanding of a wide variety of human pathogens, but it is unreasonable to expect Mus musculus to be a good model system for every human pathogen. Alternative animal models can be developed in these cases. Ferrets (influenza), cotton rats (human respiratory virus), and woodchucks (hepatitis B) are all alternative models that have led to a greater understanding of human pathogens. Rodent models are tractable, genetically amenable and inbred and outbred strains can provide homogeneity in results. Recently, a rodent homolog of hepatitis C was discovered and isolated from the liver of a Peromyscus maniculatus. This represents the first small mammal (mouse) model system for human hepatitis C and it offers great potential to contribute to our understanding and ultimately aid in our efforts to combat this serious public health concern. Peromyscus are available commercially and can be used to inform questions about the origin, transmission, persistence, pathology, and rational treatment of hepatitis C. Here, we provide a disease ecologist's overview of this new virus and some suggestions for useful future experiments.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84994422964&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84994422964&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.semcdb.2016.07.031
DO - 10.1016/j.semcdb.2016.07.031
M3 - Review article
C2 - 27498234
AN - SCOPUS:84994422964
SN - 1084-9521
VL - 61
SP - 123
EP - 130
JO - Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology
JF - Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology
ER -