Endometriosis in the Mouse: Challenges and Progress Toward a ‘Best Fit’ Murine Model

Katherine A Burns, Amelia M Pearson, Jessica L Slack, Elaine D Por, Alicia N Scribner, Nazmin A Eti, Nazmin Akter Eti, Richard O Burney
Frontiers in physiology · 2022 · vol. 12 , pp. 806574 · doi:10.3389/fphys.2021.806574 · PMID:35095566 · PMC8794744 · W4205442535
review OA: gold CC0 ⤵ 35 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This review identifies key parameters for evaluating mouse models of endometriosis and highlights recent innovations that improve lesion development and assessment, overcoming anatomical and physiological challenges.

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⚙ AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This paper is a literature review that surveyed prior preclinical studies using murine endometriosis models, aiming to identify key parameters for a “best-fit” mouse model that better recapitulates human disease. Across evaluated models, the review highlights how factors such as donor cycle phase and tissue type, recipient immune status, hormonal preparation, transplantation methodology and timing, and opportunities for longitudinal lesion assessment influence lesion initiation and growth; examples include differences in lesion development by mouse strain and cycle phase, and improved induction using menstrual-phase endometrium rather than luteal-phase tissue. The authors note inherent limitations of the mouse for endometriosis modeling, particularly because mice do not menstruate or develop endometriosis spontaneously, requiring induction and transplantation that can confound fidelity to human pathogenesis. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — it synthesizes challenges and progress toward optimizing murine endometriosis model “fit” by reviewing how experimental parameters align with endometriosis pathophysiology.

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Abstract

Endometriosis is a prevalent gynecologic condition associated with pelvic pain and infertility characterized by the implantation and growth of endometrial tissue displaced into the pelvis via retrograde menstruation. The mouse is a molecularly well-annotated and cost-efficient species for modeling human disease in the therapeutic discovery pipeline. However, as a non-menstrual species with a closed tubo-ovarian junction, the mouse poses inherent challenges as a preclinical model for endometriosis research. Over the past three decades, numerous murine models of endometriosis have been described with varying degrees of fidelity in recapitulating the essential pathophysiologic features of the human disease. We conducted a search of the peer-reviewed literature to identify publications describing preclinical research using a murine model of endometriosis. Each model was reviewed according to a panel of ideal model parameters founded on the current understanding of endometriosis pathophysiology. Evaluated parameters included method of transplantation, cycle phase and type of tissue transplanted, recipient immune/ovarian status, iterative schedule of transplantation, and option for longitudinal lesion assessment. Though challenges remain, more recent models have incorporated innovative technical approaches such as in vivo fluorescence imaging and novel hormonal preparations to overcome the unique challenges posed by murine anatomy and physiology. These models offer significant advantages in lesion development and readout toward a high-fidelity mouse model for translational research in endometriosis.

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endometriosisinfertility

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Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

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