Humoral Immunity in Humanized Mice: A Work in Progress

Humanized mice historically have not been good models of human humoral immunity induced by either infection or immunization. However, newer versions of humanized mice generated in severely immunodeficient mice with a targeted disruption of the IL2R gamma(c) gene have recently been reported to produce antigen-specific class-switched human antibodies, with some demonstrating neutralizing activities. Here we review the growing ability of humanized mice to support the study of human humoral immune responses, discussing the current and future potential of these models as well as their current limitations.