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A Germ-Free Humanized Mouse Model Shows the Contribution of Resident Microbiota to Human-Specific Pathogen Infection

Wahl et al., Nature Biotechnology. 2023.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-023-01906-5

Germ-free (GF) mice are of limited value in the study of human-specific pathogens because they do not support their replication. In this report, investigators developed a GF humanized mouse model using the bone marrow–liver–thymus platform to provide a robust and flexible in vivo model that can be used to study the role of resident microbiota in human health and disease. They demonstrated that resident microbiota promote viral acquisition and pathogenesis by using two human-specific pathogens, Epstein–Barr virus and HIV. Supported by ORIP (P40OD010995), FIC, NIAID, NCI, and NIDDK.