Abstract
The Chinese tree shrew (Tupaia belangeri chinensis), a squirrel-like and rat-sized mammal, has a wide distribution in Southeast Asia, South and Southwest China and has many unique characteristics that make it suitable for use as an experimental animal. There have been many studies using the tree shrew (Tupaia belangeri) aimed at increasing our understanding of fundamental biological mechanisms and for the modeling of human diseases and therapeutic responses. The recent release of a publicly available annotated genome sequence of the Chinese tree shrew and its genome database (www.treeshrewdb.org) has offered a solid base from which it is possible to elucidate the basic biological properties and create animal models using this species. The extensive characterization of key factors and signaling pathways in the immune and nervous systems has shown that tree shrews possess both conserved and unique features relative to primates. Hitherto, the tree shrew has been successfully used to create animal models for myopia, depression, breast cancer, alcohol-induced or non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases, herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections, to name a few. The recent successful genetic manipulation of the tree shrew has opened a new avenue for the wider usage of this animal in biomedical research. In this opinion paper, I attempt to summarize the recent research advances that have used the Chinese tree shrew, with a focus on the new knowledge obtained by using the biological properties identified using the tree shrew genome, a proposal for the genome-based approach for creating animal models, and the genetic manipulation of the tree shrew. With more studies using this species and the application of cutting-edge gene editing techniques, the tree shrew will continue to be under the spot light as a viable animal model for investigating the basis of many different human diseases.
Highlights
As human beings, our knowledge about ourselves, especially about how our brain works, how a disease develops, and the discovery of many efficient therapeutic agents, has largely come from studies using animals
Because of ethical concerns and restrictions, chimpanzees and large primates have been forbidden from being used in the creation of most animal models and in many types of drug tests, albeit they remain the best animals for studying human physiology (Bennett & Panicker, 2016; Knight, 2008)
Each species has its own unique features, and we need to understand more about the particular species before we can attempt to use it in biomedical research
Summary
The phylogenetic relationship of the tree shrew in the Euarchontoglires has been debated for a long time and a clarification of the genetic relationship of the tree shrew to primates will provide a firm basis for using the tree shrew as an alternative to primates in biomedical research. Previous studies have reported different clustering patterns regarding the phylogenetic affinity of the tree shrew to primates, lagomorphs and rodents on the basis of various kinds of genetic data (Fan et al, 2013; Lin et al, 2014; O'Leary et al, 2013; Song et al, 2012; Xu et al, 2012, 2013a; Zhou et al, 2015). The recent comparative genome analysis of the Chinese tree shrew (Tupaia belangeri chinensis) and related vertebrate species (including primates) has provided sufficient evidence to resolve this question and has showed that the tree shrew has a much closer affinity to primates than that of rodents (Fan et al, 2013; Lin et al, 2014; Xu et al, 2013a). Leaving aside the technical problems and the usage of different datasets, the current taxonomical status of tree shrew in the Order Scandentia is well supported (Fan et al, 2013; Xu et al, 2013a)
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