Surprisingly, it's true. Transgenic mice may just
be the hero for many patients with neurodegenerative diseases. In a previous
post, Beginning the Research, I found
an article, that explained how transgenic mice are used to model diseases for scientists and researchers to better understand the
disease. According to this article, the triple transgenic mice model is the
reason we are one big step closer to finding the cure for Alzheimer's
Disease. I'm sure you all agree with me that this is great news because we know
how dangerous Alzheimer's can be.
This article sparked my interest and gave me the idea to write my paper on transgenic mice and neurodegenerative diseases.
After doing some more research I stumbled upon two
great scholarly sources that I intend to use in my paper.
A Decade of Tau Transgenic Animal Models and Beyond talks
about a type of transgenic animal models, tau, and their role in Alzheimer's
disease. Tau is a microtubule-assisted protein that is present in neurons.
Researchers are experimenting with tau transgenic mice models because they
believe that tau proteins triggers the disintegration of microtubules. Tau
transgenic animal models identify disease modifiers, express genes and
proteins, and develop new therapeutic strategies.
Transgenic animal models of neurodegenerative diseases and their
application to treatment development is an article on
neurodegenerative diseases in general instead of just Alzheimer's. Instead of
focusing on tau transgenic animal models like the other article, this one
focuses on the misfolded proteins. Many neurodegenerative diseases, not just
Alzheimer's, are caused by aggregate proteins, proteins that are accumulated in areas such as the
plasma membrane, intercellular and extracellular spaces. In this research, they
use biological mouse models to better understand the pathogenesis and to
discover and test new treatments. Each model targets a selective factor and
mimic a specific condition of the researched disease.
Both articles remind me of how advanced technology is today. It amazes
me how mice can be used to represent not just a disease as a whole, but
specific characteristics of the diseases, such as tau and misfolded proteins,
to learn how that one thing affects the complex disease. I will be using both
articles in my research to show how transgenic animals are significant in the
medical world. Centuries and decades ago, people would not have guessed the large
role that these little creatures could play.
