Gene therapy in nonhuman primate models of human autoimmune disease.

Before autoimmune diseases in humans can be treated with gene therapy, the safety and efficacy of the used vectors must be tested in valid experimental models. Monkeys, such as the rhesus macaque or the common marmoset, provide such models. This publication reviews the state of the art in monkey models for rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis and the (few) gene therapy experiments that have been performed in these models.