Approach towards optimal physiological T-cell-mediated immune response

Abstract

Evaluation of: Kirak O, Frickel EV, Grotenbreg GM et al.: Transnuclear mice with predefined T cell receptor specificities against Toxoplasma gondii obtained via SCNT. Science 238, 243–248 (2010). Transgenic mice with defined T-cell receptor (TCR) specificity are useful for studying the involvement of T-cell-mediated immune responses to antigenic epitopes. However, these transgenic mice were not easily established. Their creation is time consuming due to several hindrances such as random integration of the α- and β-chains of the transgenic TCR and the presence of exogenous promoter, among others. These drawbacks explain why only a few TCR transgenic mice are available so far. Somatic cell nuclear transfer represents another means to generate mice with defined TCR specificity. Kirak et al. described an experimental model based on somatic cell nuclear transfer that allowed them to obtain mice harboring TCR specific to Toxoplasma gondii. The apparent ease in establishing this experimental model could lead to the generation of mice with defined T-cell immune responses against other antigens in the near future.