The Need

Chemokines are typically small, secreted molecules that participate in leukocyte trafficking, recruitment, and activation. They also play roles in normal and pathological processes including allergic responses, infectious and autoimmune disease, angiogenesis, inflammation, and tumor growth and metastasis. CXC chemokine receptor 3 (CXCR3) is expressed by natural killer cells, neutrophils, T cells and plasmacytoid dendritic cells. CXCR3 ligands are produced in extremely high levels during inflammation and infection, but they may also be possible targets for development of therapeutics for autoimmune and cancer diseases. There is a significant need for animal models to track and investigate CXCR3 expressing cells for diagnostic and therapeutic tool development.

The Technology

The Ohio State University researchers, led by Dr. Abhay Satoskar, have developed a novel generation of CXCR3-GFP knock-in mouse. The mice express high levels of GFP in CXCR3 cells, which makes the cells readily trackable in vivo and in vitro. This model will be a useful tool for targeting and characterizing the role of CXCR3 expressing cells in inflammation, autoimmune diseases, cancer, and infection.

Commercial Applications

• Validating relevant therapeutic targets
• Developing diagnostic tools for cancer and autoimmune diseases

Benefits/Advantages

• Since CXCR3 is a major receptor involved in leukocyte migration, the proposed mouse model is expected to be used by investigators in an array of fields including immunology, cancer, and cell biology.
• GFP tracking is a well known tool and accessible to many researchers looking to use a model like this for research purposes