Quaglino Elena, Mastini Cristina, Forni Guido, Cavallo Federica
Molecular Biotechnology Center, Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
Curr Protoc Immunol. 2008 Aug;Chapter 20:Unit 20.9.1-20.9-10. doi: 10.1002/0471142735.im2009s82.
The epidermal growth factor receptor belongs to a superfamily of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTK) that includes ErbB2. ErbB2 is involved in normal physiological processes, such as embryogenesis, cell proliferation, differentiation, adhesion motility, and apoptosis, while its malfunction or overexpression is responsible for development defects, diabetes, and cancer. The human ortholog of ErbB2 is referred as Her-2 (human ErbB2) while the rat ortholog is referred as neu (rat ErbB2). As ErbB2 is directly involved in carcinogenesis, mice transgenic for the rat neu oncogene allow straightforward assessment of the ability of drugs and vaccines to inhibit the progression of neu-driven cancer. Information from this model may provide indications on the efficacy of similar treatments in patients. This commentary provides key information regarding the use of these transgenic mouse models for evaluation of the efficacy of anti-tumor strategies.
