Alopecia areata: Animal models illuminate autoimmune pathogenesis and novel immunotherapeutic strategies

摘要

One of the most common human autoimmune diseases, alopecia areata (AA), is characterized by sudden, often persisting and psychologically devastating hair loss. Animal models have helped greatly to elucidate critical cellular and molecular immune pathways in AA. The two most prominent ones are inbred C3H/HeJ mice which develop an AA-like hair phenotype spontaneously or after experimental induction, and healthy human scalp skin xenotransplanted onto SCID mice, in which a phenocopy of human AA is induced by injecting IL-2-stimulated PBMCs enriched for CD56 +/NKG2D + cells intradermally. The current review critically examines the pros and cons of the available AA animal models and how they have shaped our understanding of AA pathobiology, and the development of new therapeutic strategies.