Complimentary animal models for retinoblastoma which recapitulate conditions found in the eye of human retinoblastoma patients in an animal are provided. These models are generated by introducing an agent capable of giving rise to a retinoblastoma into the developing eye of an immunologically naive animal. In one model the agent comprises cells which are capable of giving rise to a retinoblastoma. In another model the agent comprises a vector capable of expressing an oncogene which, when expressed in a transfected cell, can give rise to a cell mass that mimics the early stages of retinoblastoma formation. These models can be used to study retinoblastoma and screen for, or characterize, inhibitory agents. These models may also be used to study the influence of genotype or engineered genes or gene deficiencies (knock-outs) on the development of retinoblastoma.
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