Immunodeficient mice xenografted with human lymphoid cells: new models for in vivo studies of human immunobiology and infectious diseases.

This review article deals with the transfer of human lymphoid or hematopoietic tissues to severely immunodeficient mice to create new small animal models for the study of human biology and disease. The degree of functional reconstitution in the three current models is discussed. SCID mice with human grafts have been infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to generate a small animal model for AIDS research. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-related lymphoproliferative disorders can also be modeled by the transfer of adult peripheral blood mononuclear cells to SCID mice.