TRANSGENIC MICE MODELS IN AUTOIMMUNITY - DISCUSSION

Transgenic mice are an important in vivo model for studying the functi on of single genes. Specific induction and tissue specific expression of the inserted genes are the great advantages of this system. However , there a risks in constructing transgenic mice and the interpretion o f the experimental data. To prevent artefacts and to optimize the tran sgenic model, the experimental systems have to fulfill the following p resets: 1. Experiments has to be done with a stable transgenic line an d not with the first heterogeneous transgeniced generation, because th ey differ in their site of gene insertion and in the cellular response . 2. The number of experiments have to be statistically sufficient. Of ten only a few number of experiments are done, due to the bad reproduc tion of transgenic mice. 3. Health of transgenic mice has to be proven , since the transgenic animals are under laboratory conditions and not under professional breeding conditions. 4. As a control there should be a transgenic mouse with a comparable pseudogene insertion beside th e normal littermate control, to exclude artefacts by the simple gene i nsertion. If all of these presets are fulfilled, a transgenic mice mod el will be one of the best experimental systems.