The Good News: Genetically Altered Mouse May Help Lead to Alzheimer’s Advances

Researchers at the University of
Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have developed a transgenic
mouse that carries a human gene known to increase risk of Alzheimer's
15-fold. This new mouse mimics the genetics of the human disease more
closely than any of the dozen existing mouse models and may prove more
useful in the development of candidate drugs to prevent or treat the
disease. The new mouse model provides new evidence for the earliest
cause of Alzheimer's, researchers report in a study to be published in
the December issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, and
now available online. The model is a cross between an existing
transgenic Alzheimer's mouse and a mouse carrying fully human apoE, a
gene that in one of its three variants, apoE4, is the greatest genetic
risk factor for Alzheimer's in the human population.

Source/more: EurekAlert