Sj？gren's syndrome: studying the disease in mice

Assuming that studying a model organism will provide us with relevant information about the organism of our primary interest, investigation of nonhuman animals represents an important pillar in today's biomedical research. Over the past decades, the most popular experimental model to emerge is the common house mouse, irrespective of different living environments, the evolutionary distance and some well-recognized discrepancies in innate and adaptive immune responses between mice and men. Despite such concerns, researchers generally accept these limitations in order to circumnavigate technological and ethical issues related to research conducted in humans. Indeed, immunology has embraced the study of mice as a model organism and has accumulated tremendous insight into the intricacies of the human immune system and its involvement in both preventing and effecting disease.In the present article, the murine models for Sj？gren's syndrome (SS) are presented along the lines of spontaneous and extrinsic-factor induced models of SS-like disease and are discussed with special focus on disease phenotype and alterations induced in association with genetic modification and experimental intervention. We also highlight common biological themes reported in context with both the etiology and the underlying pathogenic mechanisms of experimental SS and address their potential relevance for SS in humans.SS is a chronic autoimmune disease, which mainly affects the exocrine glands. Nearly all patients complain of a persistent feeling of dry mouth (xerostomia) and dry eyes (keratoconjunctivitis sicca) [1,2]. These symptoms can be confirmed by multiple objective tests indicating significant functional impairment of the salivary and lacrimal glands. Histological evaluation of minor salivary glands obtained from patients with SS usually shows large and persistent focal infiltrates of mononuclear cells, often referred to as lymphocytic foci. These foci consist of mainly T cells, fewer B cells