Abstract
Tissue rejection remains a major problem in organ transplantation. The use of experimental animal models continues to enhance our understanding of the rejection process and offers strategies for its prevention. The popular mouse model of heterotopic cardiac transplantation has been used for over three decades to help investigators understand the pathogenesis of graft rejection and in turn, how novel drugs can attenuate the immune response to transplanted organs. Also, since the genetic blueprint of mice is well-known, specific genes can be modified to study their affect on graft acceptance and tolerance. This review briefly outlines what is known about the unique physiology, haemodynamics and dynamic morphology of the transplanted mouse heart, with particular emphasis on insights gleaned from hi-resolution ultrasound. Current applications and methods to assess rejection are also discussed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e5 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Hypothesis |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 2011 |
Open Access - Access Right Statement
© 2011 Ramy H. Bishay. This is an Open Access article distributed by Hypothesis under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Keywords
- graft rejection
- heart
- hemodynamics
- mice as laboratory animals
- transplantation
- transplantation of organs_tissues_etc.