Double-humanized mouse model to study bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling in tumor xenografts

Abstract

The activation of the bone morphogenic protein (BMP) signaling pathway in cancer cells has been shown to enhance migration and tumor angiogenesis and promote survival. The BMP signaling pathway regulates benign cells in the tumor microenvironment and is a known regulator of immune cells. The development of BMP receptor inhibitors has allowed the study of tumor xenografts in mice. We describe a double-humanized mouse model with adoptively transferred human immune and human tumor cells that can be used to assess the effects of BMP inhibitors on these human cells in vivo.