ICOS Mouse Models

Why Model ICOS

Icos is the mouse ortholog of human ICOS and encodes the inducible T-cell costimulator (CD278), a CD28-family receptor expressed on activated T cells. ICOS binds ICOS ligand and has been associated with support of T-cell activation, follicular helper T-cell responses, and antibody production.

ICOS is under study as a target in cancer immunotherapy and in inflammatory and autoimmune disease. Icos-deficient mice are viable and show impaired germinal-center and T-cell-dependent antibody responses.

Model Applications

Humanized ICOS models, in which the human receptor replaces the mouse counterpart, have been used to evaluate ICOS-directed agents in defined experimental settings, sometimes combined with ICOS-ligand humanization.

Custom ICOS Model Options

Engineered to your specifications, with molecular validation of the targeted allele and germline transmission guaranteed.

• Conventional knockout
• Conditional knockout
• Point mutation / knockin
• Reporter knockin
• Humanized
• Targeted transgenic

Sources

• Inducible costimulator and its ligand promote proliferation and migration of tumor cells in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Int J Mol Sci. 2026. doi:10.3390/ijms27031408
• Hutloff A et al. ICOS is an inducible T-cell co-stimulator structurally and functionally related to CD28. Nature. 1999. doi:10.1038/16717

Last reviewed: October 22, 2026 · Reviewed by: Paul Sheiffele

Related gene targets: Icoslg · Cd28 · Ctla4 · Cd40lg