Recent advances in animal models of lymphomagenesis caused by human γ-herpesviruses

The two human γ-herpesviruses Epstein Barr virus (EBV) and Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) cause around 2-3% of all cancers in man. Their exclusive tropism for humans and associated lack of small animal models has impeded the dissection of individual viral gene contributions to tumor formation and of protection by distinct immune responses that are observed in virus carriers. Mice with reconstituted human immune systems (humanized mice) now offer the possibility to study these questions and to develop adoptive antibody and T cell transfers against EBV- and KSHV-associated pathologies. Based on such protective immune responses, vaccine candidates can then be developed to prophylactically and therapeutically induce immune control, similar to the one that avoids virus-associated pathologies in the vast majority of infected individuals.