Pathologies caused by inflammatory and autoimmune reactions are often of complex etiology; animal models are critical to decipher the mechanisms and the various factors involved as well as to test new therapeutic strategies. The research teams of Inflamex that analyze human diseases have developed appropriate mouse models. Some of us have a very strong expertise in mouse model development while others have developed preclinical approaches more recently. The Inflamex network provides an excellent opportunity to bring together all this knowledge, to share existing mouse models and to generate new ones.
Thus, we will develop new transgenic mouse models to address the role of newly identified cells such as innate like T cells, innate lymphoid cells as well as the consequence of an overexpression of disease-related proteins of myeloid cells such as Fc receptors (i.e. CD89) or enzyme (i.e. PR3).
We are presently generating new humanized mouse models of human pathologies such as vascularitis, IgA nephropathy and type 1 diabetes to determine the role of autoantigens and to identify critical epitopes recognized by autoreactive T cells or myeloid cells. We are also generating new knock-in mouse models to deplete specific innate immune cells and to tag these cells with fluorochromes to perform intravital microscopy such as mast cells, basophils and neutrophils.