Transgenic mice models in autoimmunity – discussion

Transgenic mice are an important in vivo model for studying the function of single genes. Specific induction and tissue specific expression of the inserted genes are the great advantages of this system. However, there a risks in constructing transgenic mice and the interpretation of the experimental data. To prevent artefacts and to optimize the transgenic model, the experimental systems have to fulfill the following presets: 1. Experiments has to be done with a stable transgenic line and not with the first heterogeneous transgeniced generation, because they differ in their site of gene insertion and in the cellular response. 2. The number of experiments have to be statistically sufficient. Often only a few number of experiments are done, due to the bad reproduction of transgenic mice. 3. Health of transgenic mice has to be proven, since the transgenic animals are under laboratory conditions and not under professional breeding conditions. 4. As a control there should be a transgenic mouse with a comparable pseudogene insertion beside the normal littermate control, to exclude artefacts by the simple gene insertion. If all of these presets are fulfilled, a transgenic mice model will be one of the best experimental systems.