Inducible generalized activation of hSTING-N154S expression in mice leads to lethal hypercytokinemia: a model for "cytokine storm".

Excessive levels of circulating proinflammatory mediators, known as "hypercytokinemia," that are generated by overwhelming immune system activation can lead to death due to critical organ failure and thrombotic events. Hypercytokinemia has been frequently associated with a variety of infectious and autoimmune diseases, with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection currently being the commonest cause, of what has been termed the cytokine storm. Among its various functions within the host, STING (stimulator of interferon genes) is critical in the defense against certain viruses and other pathogens.

Intratumoral STING activation causes durable immunogenic tumor eradication in the KP soft tissue sarcoma model.

Introduction: Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are highly metastatic, connective-tissue lineage solid cancers. Immunologically, sarcomas are frequently characterized by a paucity of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes and an immune suppressive microenvironment. Activation of the STING pathway can induce potent immune-driven anti-tumor responses within immunogenic solid tumors; however, this strategy has not been evaluated in immunologically cold sarcomas.

IL-1Ra deficiency accelerates intervertebral disc degeneration in C57BL6J mice.

The expression of Interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß) and its antagonist and Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) are correlated with greater human intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration, suggesting that elevated IL-1β activity promotes disc degeneration. Many in vitro studies support such a mechanistic relationship, whereas few in vivo investigations have been reported. The present study tests the effect of increased IL-1β activity on intervertebral disc in mice with an IL-1Ra gene deletion.

MusMorph, a database of standardized mouse morphology data for morphometric meta-analyses.

Complex morphological traits are the product of many genes with transient or lasting developmental effects that interact in anatomical context. Mouse models are a key resource for disentangling such effects, because they offer myriad tools for manipulating the genome in a controlled environment. Unfortunately, phenotypic data are often obtained using laboratory-specific protocols, resulting in self-contained datasets that are difficult to relate to one another for larger scale analyses.