Engineering a New Mouse Model for Vitiligo

Harris et al. developed a new mouse model for vitiligo by overexpressing a mutant Kit ligand and transplanting melanocyte-targeting CD8+ T cells, which mimicked human vitiligo with specific depigmentation and histological similarities. Blocking IFN-γ reduced CD8+ T-cell accumulation and depigmentation, indicating potential for studying immune responses and therapies. The model was useful for understanding autoimmune destruction of melanocytes and developing immunomodulatory treatments, though it might be limited for testing repigmentation strategies due to pro-survival signals from KITL and MITF.