Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are small DNA tumor viruses, some of which induce malignancy in genital, anal, head and neck and also skin tissues. The viruses show high species specificity and thus no animal model is available to study HPV infection in vivo. In addition, no laboratory rodent papillomavirus model has been reported to date. We and others have used the cottontail rabbit papillomavirus (CRPV) / rabbit model as a surrogate model for highrisk HPV infections in the human population. Moderate consistency of epitope responsiveness between these two models was noted, the HLA-A2.1 transgenic rabbit model is more sensitive in its ability to identify specific targets for protective and therapeutic purposes when compared with the HLA-A2.1 transgenic mouse model in this study. We anticipate that the HLA-A2.1 transgenic rabbit model will be valuable for the development of therapeutic vaccines for HPV and other rabbit susceptible human pathogens.
Last date updated on April, 2024