Humanized Mouse Model to Study the P2X7 Receptor in Graft-Versus-Host Disease

Humanized mouse models of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), where human immune cells are injected into immune deficient mice, are well established and provide opportunities to investigate pathways involved in GVHD development. This chapter provides an overview of human immune cell isolation, injection of these cells into immune deficient mice, monitoring of mice for signs of GVHD, and assessment of human cell engraftment using flow cytometry. Further, this chapter focuses on the P2X7 signaling pathway involved in GVHD, and describes a strategy to block the P2X7 receptor and examine the effect of this on GVHD development.