ABSTRACT
Once a stable colony of either spontaneous or induced mutant mice is established, the challenges of characterizing the phenotype and comparing it to similar phenotypes in well-documented diseases of humans and domestic animals begins. Collaboration between veterinarians and physicians can provide a unique resource to both expedite this process and provide insight and accuracy to the project. The veterinarian, in particular a veterinary pathologist trained in the normal and abnormal anatomy and physiology of the mouse, understands the mouse and has a background in general mammalian pathophysiology. This not only provides expertise with which to evaluate the mutation but also comparative information from domestic mammals that gives the study a phylogenetic perspective. Physicians work with humans on a daily basis and are familiar with their pathophysiology, which is similar but also uniquely different from that of mice. Working together, putative lesions apparent to the physician may be determined to be normal by the veterinarian, thereby avoiding a potentially serious error. For example, during initial evaluation of the mouse model for alopecia areata,
we found that actively growing hairs were surrounded and infiltrated by inflammatory cells. Dr. King, the physician, immediately recognized the similarity of this lesion to the human disease, alopecia areata.
