Previous studies have shown that there are similarities but also differences between human and murine MSCs., For example, both human and murine MSCs can generate effector molecules such as PGE2, IL6, and IL10.,, However, in response to stimulation of proinflammatory cytokines such as IFNG and TNF, murine MSCs produce high levels of NOS2 and low levels of IDO1.
In murine typhus, for example, Rickettsia mooseri is a parasite of rats conveyed from rat to rat by the Oriental rat flea, Xenopsylla cheopis; it bites humans if they intrude into its environment.
Human and murine cytomegalovirus, for example, encode MHC class I-like molecules that can serve as decoys for NK cells [63], [64].
In primary and immortalized murine MECs, for example, adhesion-dependent survival is associated with PI3-K induced repression of bax translocation to the mitochondria [ 14].
Murine studies for example, have demonstrated that TLR2 is in involved in the early recruitment of neutrophils in response to intraperitoneal challenge with either Staphylococcus aureus, or peptidoglycan (PGN) from S. aureus [ 8].
The above results suggest that some of the documented effects of TLR signalling in murine DC, for example, reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton, may in fact be driven by one or more members of the Ste-20 kinase family.
In murine models, for example, mRNA levels of proinflamma-tory and immunoregulatory cytokines, including IL-1α, IL-1β, transforming growth factor beta 1 and TNF-α, are increased in intraparenchymal lung mononuclear cells 1 hour after hemorrhage [ 39].
Despite the usefulness of mouse models for studying human infections, differences in human and murine DCs, for example in their capacity to produce IL-12p70 and IL-1β in response to pneumococcal infection (Littmann et al., 2009), highlight the need for more research on human systems to study the effect of this viral/bacterial co-infection.
This is an established procedure to isolate and concentrate mesenchymal cells from murine limb buds, for example, to initiate mesenchymal micromass cultures [ 22– 22].
For example, murine tumor models are expensive and difficult to adopt for routine drug screening.
