A Tg-rasH2 mouse is an innovative transgenic mouse, developed in
Central Institute for Experimental Animals
Central Institute for Experimental Animals (CIEA) (実験動物中央研究所) is a research center for experimental animals in Japan. It was founded by Tatsuji Nomura in 1952 with the mission of improving the level of biomedical research.
M ...
(CIEA), carrying the three copies of human prototype c-Ha-ras
oncogenes
An oncogene is a gene that has the potential to cause cancer. In tumor cells, these genes are often mutated, or expressed at high levels. with endogenous promoter and enhancer in tandem. Under Alternative Carcinogenicity Testing (ACT) project conducted by
International Life Sciences Institute
The International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) is a global nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization headquartered in Washington, DC, United States that publishes peer-reviewed studies on nutrition and food safety. It was founded in 1978 by Alex Malasp ...
(ILSI) and ILSI Health and Environmental Sciences Institute (HESI), comprehensive evaluation studies on the Tg-rasH2 mouse bioassay system were performed and the usefulness of the system was validated for
carcinogenicity
A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that promotes carcinogenesis (the formation of cancer). This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes. Several radioactive substan ...
studies by 23 international pharmaceutical companies. In the studies, it was confirmed that Tg-rasH2 mice are sensitive to both genotoxic and non-genotoxic human carcinogens and show no response to non-carcinogens.
Tumorigenesis Patterns
/ref> As a consequence, the Tg-rasH2 mice have been accepted as a short-term carcinogenicity study system enabling to reduce the conventional two-year study period to 26 weeks.
History
*1989: Tg-rasH2 mice were first developed in CIEA.
*1992: CIEA started development of carcinogenicity bioassay system using Tg-rasH2 mice.
*1996: Policy to replace the 2-year study on mice with the short-term study decided at ICH4.
*1996-2000: Usefulness of rasH2 mice validated by ILSI/HESI international research.
*2001: Production and sales of Tg-rasH2 mice.
References
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External links
Tg-rasH2 mouse
Immunology mice