Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Aug 16;1(1):8.
doi: 10.1186/2047-1440-1-8.

The pig as a model for translational research: overview of porcine animal models at Jichi Medical University

Eiji Kobayashi  1 , Shuji Hishikawa, Takumi Teratani, Alan T Lefor
Affiliations

The pig as a model for translational research: overview of porcine animal models at Jichi Medical University

Eiji Kobayashi et al. Transplant Res. .

Abstract

To improve the welfare of experimental animals, investigators seek to respect the 3R principle (Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement). Even when large animal studies are essential before moving to clinical trials, it is important to look for ways to reduce the number of experimental animals used. At the Center for the Development of Advanced Medical Technology, we consider 'medical' pigs to be ideal preclinical model systems.We have been using both wild-type and genetically modified pigs. We began using this approach about 10 years ago with a 'total pig system' to model human health and disease for the purposes of both medical skill education and the development of new devices and therapeutic strategies.At our Center, medical students and residents use pigs to gain experience with surgical skills and train for emergency procedures after appropriate simulation training. Senior clinicians have also used these models to advance the development of innovative tools for endo- and laparoscopic procedures. The Center focuses on translational research for organ transplantation and stem cell therapy. Several pig models have been established for liver, intestine, kidney, pancreas, and lung transplantation. Mesenchymal stromal cells have been established in green fluorescent protein- and red fluorescent protein-transgenic pigs and tested to trans-differentiate organogenesis. A program to establish induced pluripotent stem cells in the pig is ongoing at our Center.Here, we review our 10 years of activity in this field. Based on our experience in surgical education and research, experimental pigs are valuable models in translational research.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The CDAMTec research center at Jichi Medical University. A) Opening ceremony (left panel) and the outside of the pig center (right panel). B) Surgical training using pigs. C) CDAMTec features MRI (top panel), CT (middle panel), and an ICU (bottom panel). D) Surgical simulation system. Inset shows patient data. CDAMTec, Center for Development of Advanced Medical Technology; CT, computed tomography; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Changes in use of large animals at Jichi Medical University. A) Domestic pig. B) Numbers of large animals used at our university for research. Pig (red), dog (black), and monkey (blue).
Figure 3
Figure 3
A variety of miniture pig strains are used at Jichi Medical University for experimental research. KCG pig (top panel), Mexican hairless pig (middle panel), and Clawn pig (bottom panel).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Cell transplantation models in the pig. A) Micromini pig. B) Cell mixture solution in an infusion pack after one hour. Arrow shows precipitation of cells. C) Placement of a pulmonary artery catheter by using a C-arm (left panel) and monitor (right panel).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Sahara H, Shimizu A, Setoyama K, Oku M, Okumi M, Nishimura H, Oriyanhan W, Tasaki M, Scalea J, Wada H, Bando T, Date H, Yamada K. Beneficial effects of perioperative low-dose inhaled carbon monoxide on pulmonary allograft survival in MHC-inbred CLAWN miniature swine. Transplantation. 2010;90:1336–1343. doi: 10.1097/TP.0b013e3181ff8730. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ando A, Uenishi H, Kawata H, Tanaka-Matsuda M, Shigenari A, Flori L, Chardon P, Lunney KJ, Kulski KJ, Inoko H. Microsatellite diversity and crossover regions within homozygous and heterozygous SLA haplotypes of different pig breeds. Immunogenetics. 2008;60:399–407. doi: 10.1007/s00251-008-0289-z. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ando A, Ota M, Sada M, Katsuyama Y, Goto R, Shigenari A, Kawata H, Anzai T, Iwanaga T, Miyoshi Y, Fujimura N, Inoko H. Rapid assignment of the swine major histocompatibility complex (SLA) class I and II genotypes in clawn miniture swine using PCR-SSP and PCR-RFLP methods. Xenotransplant. 2005;12:121–126. doi: 10.1111/j.1399-3089.2005.00204.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kita FY, Ando A, Tanaka K, Suzuki S, Ozaki Y, Uenishi H, Inoko H, Kulski KJ, Shiina T. Application of high-resolution, massively parallel pyrosequencing for estimation of haplotypes and gene expression levels of swine leukocyte antigen (SLA) class I genes. Immunogenetics. 2012;64:187–199. doi: 10.1007/s00251-011-0572-2. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Endo M, Enosawa S, Suzuki S, Amemiya H, Kobayashi E, Miyashita T, Aoki T, Koyanagi Y. Porcine liver transplantation as an estimation system for bridge-use of bioartificial liver. Transplant Proc. 2002;34:2714–2717. doi: 10.1016/S0041-1345(02)03385-7. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources