The Trimera mouse: generating human monoclonal antibodies and an animal model for human diseases.

Monoclonal antibodies of human origin may have great therapeutic value in the treatment of cancer, autoimmune disorders and viral or bacterial infections. Several methods for generating human monoclonal antibodies exist; some are based on the transplantation of a functioning human immune system into severe combined immunodeficient (scid) mice or into Trimera mice, which are mice that have been lethally irradiated and radioprotected by transplantation of bone-marrow cells from scid mice. Trimera mice could be also used to develop animal models for human diseases by transplanting infected human tissue fragments and for creating models for cell therapy.