B6-hTGFBI Mouse

Corneal dystrophy (CD) refers to a group of primary hereditary progressive corneal diseases. The typical clinical presentation involves gradual loss of corneal transparency in both eyes, often leading to recurrent corneal erosions and visual impairment. The TGFBI gene (also known as BIGH3) encodes an extracellular matrix protein called keratoepithelin (KE protein), which plays a role in cell growth, differentiation, wound healing, cell adhesion, migration, apoptosis, proliferation, and tumorigenesis ^[1]. Mutations in the TGFBI gene are associated with various types of corneal dystrophy. Abnormal accumulation of mutated TGFBI deposits in the corneal epithelium and stroma progressively affects corneal transparency, leading to visual impairment.

Currently, therapeutic pipelines targeting the TGFBI gene have entered preclinical research stages. For instance, SiSaf Ltd. is developing a siRNA drug pipeline called SIS-201-CD, which aims to treat the disease by specifically inhibiting abnormal TGFBI expression. Most gene therapies target human genes, but considering the genetic differences between animals and humans, humanizing mouse genes can accelerate the development of TGFBI-targeted gene therapies for clinical use. This strain is a mouse Tgfbi gene humanized model and can be used for research on CD. The homozygous B6-hTGFBI mice are viable and fertile. In addition, based on the independently developed TurboKnockout fusion BAC recombination technology, Cyagen can also generate hot mutation models based on this strain and provide customized services for specific mutations to meet the experimental needs in pharmacology and other fields related to CD.