The National Applied Research Laboratories (NARL) said it has bred an immunodeficient mouse that can serve as a host for human tissue and tumor transplants without forming a rejection response, which might have personalized cancer treatment and precision medicine applications, National Laboratory Animal Center director Yu Chun Chiang (余俊強) said.
Two strains of laboratory mice — the nude mouse and the severe combined immunodeficiency mouse — are commonly used as hosts for human tissue transplants, Yu said.
However, those mice retain partially functional immune systems, making the transplanted human cells unable to be strongly expressed in the mice until a few generations have been bred, over which period transplanted cells might mutate, compromising the accuracy of experiments, he said.
Photo: CNA / National Applied Research
The NARL cross-bred two strains of immunodeficient mice to create an advanced severe immuno deficiency (ASID) mouse, which lacks almost all forms of immune cells, so the mice show little or no immune response to transplanted cells, thus enabling grafted human cells to be examined, Yu said.
The NARL has successfully grown various tumor cells — including those of lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, blood cancer, skin cancer and breast cancer — in the ASID mice, something which could not be achieved with most types of immunodeficient mice, he said.
The ASID mouse is expected to enhance the accuracy of cancer treatment by allowing researchers to inject medication into mice carrying tumors directly transplanted from cancer patient to test which drugs are more effective against the tumor, he said.
The patient-derived tumor could be preserved in the ASID mice over generations to determine the biological marker and mechanism of the cancer, and to help develop new therapies and medicines, he said.
The ASID mouse is more cost-effective than its imported counterparts from the US and Japan, as an ASID mouse costs about NT$3,000 to produce, while an imported mouse costs between NT$15,000 and NT$30,000, Yu said, adding that the NARL can supply about 100 ASID mice per month.
The NARL said it is developing a second-generation ASID mouse, which would carry the human immune system to simulate human immune responses to create a type of mouse that more accurately mimics human responses for medical and immunological research.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS