Moving Forward: Recent Developments for the Ferret Biomedical Research Model.

Randy A Albrecht,Andrew Pekosz,S Mark Tompkins,Stacey Schultz-Cherry,Wen-Chun Liu,Andrea J Sant,Sean Cherry,Victoria Meliopoulos,Paul G Thomas,Thomas E Morrison

doi:10.1128/mbio.01113-18

Abstract

Since the initial report in 1911, the domestic ferret has become an invaluable biomedical research model. While widely recognized for its utility in influenza virus research, ferrets are used for a variety of infectious and noninfectious disease models due to the anatomical, metabolic, and physiological features they share with humans and their susceptibility to many human pathogens. However, there are limitations to the model that must be overcome for maximal utility for the scientific community. Here, we describe important recent advances that will accelerate biomedical research with this animal model.

Highlights

Since the initial report in 1911, the domestic ferret has become an invaluable biomedical research model
The ferret has been an invaluable model for cardiac research [2], spinal cord injury [3], epilepsy [4], and several lung conditions, including smoke-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) [5], cystic fibrosis [6], and tobacco-induced lung cancer [7]
We discuss the recent advances and ongoing initiatives to increase the utility of the ferret model for biomedical research

Summary

MINIREVIEW crossm

Mark Tompkins,c Andrew Pekosz,d Victoria Meliopoulos,e Sean Cherry,e Paul G. Thomas,f Stacey Schultz-Cherrye aDepartment of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA bDavid H. Smith Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York, USA cCenter for Vaccines and Immunology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA dW. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA eDepartment of Immunology, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, USA fDepartment of Infectious Diseases, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Fungi Pneumocystis jirovecii

Rabbit Dako

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