We are now able to offer longitudinal, repeated in vivo electromyographic measurements in rodent models with motor impairment. These analyses provide sensitive longitudinal readouts about your drug candidates that are unaffected by the environmental or emotional status of your animals. Typical readouts are the Compound Muscle Action Potential (CMAP), Motor Unit Action Potential (MUAP) and … Read more
Reduced GCase activity is a key causative hallmark of Gaucher disease. Monitoring changes in GCase activity at multiple time points from small volumes of whole blood, sampled as dried blood spots (DBS), can give valuable new insights on drug effects. Mutations in the human glucosylceramidase-β (GBA) gene and associated GCase activity are causative for Gaucher … Read more
Repeated MPTP injections into the mouse’ intraperitoneal space result in a Parkinson´s disease brain pathology shown as degeneration of dopaminergic neurons and neuroinflammation. Upon entering the brain, methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) oxidizes into the highly neurotoxic compound 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+) which is selectively taken up by dopaminergic neurons. Inside neurons, MPP+ disrupts mitochondrial function and causes oxidative stress, … Read more
Detection of mRNA by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) is a great alternative for proteins that are hard to detect by immunofluorescence. FISH is also the method of choice for the analysis of expression efficacy during the development of new gene therapies. The Department of Histology of Scantox therefore established the FISH labeling method and … Read more
Unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) injections in the mouse dorsal striatum (caudate putamen) lead to a strong Parkinson’s disease pathology in the injected brain hemisphere, while the contralateral hemisphere can serve as control. The effect of the 6-OHDA injection can be validated histologically, by measurement of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) levels in the dorsal striatum that is strongly … Read more
Cisterna magna injections are the most favorable administration route of cells and various agents to ensure their distribution to more rostral brain regions in mice and rats compared to intrathecal injections. Furthermore, injections of various tracer molecules into the cisterna magna are used to track the cerebrospinal fluid´s (CSF) movement through the glymphatic system in … Read more
The LRRK2 G2019S gain-of-function mutation is frequently observed in Parkinson’s disease patients. Selective LRRK2 inhibitors have thus been proposed as promising compounds for the treatment of PD. At Scantox, two rodent models are now available to test your LRRK2 inhibitors. LRRK2-G2019S Knock-In mice expressing murine LRRK2 with G2019S mutation and human LRRK2 G2019S transgenic rats … Read more
Scantox now offers repeated in vivo cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sampling. Collection of CSF samples from the same animal at different time points allows for longitudinal sample analysis of the same animal, significantly reducing the number of animals needed per group and study. Depending on the project design, in vivo CSF collection represents a procedure that … Read more
The strong pathology of NPC1-/- mice, a Niemann-Pick type 1 mouse model, can be significantly reduced by cyclodextrin treatment. Here we show that cyclodextrin (2-hydroxypropyl-ß-cyclodextrin, HPBCD improves cholesterol levels as well as liver enzyme levels. Subcutaneous treatment of NPC1-/- mice once weekly for 3 weeks thus reduces liver cholesterol levels (Fig.1A) while increasing plasma triglyceride … Read more
Injecting wild type mice with glyceryl trinitrate (a.k.a. nitroglycerin, NTG) is a fast and robust method to induce a migraine-like symptomatology that can efficiently be treated with an available migraine medication. Migraine, and its associated headache and neurological symptoms, is a severely impairing condition affecting more than a billion people worldwide. Although migraine is one … Read more
Injecting wild type mice unilaterally with AAV2 hA53T-α-syn virus particles is a fast and at the same time solid method to model Parkinson’s disease brain pathologies. A single unilateral injection of AAV2 hA53T-α-syn into the substantia nigra causes selective expression of hA53T-α-syn in the substantia nigra as well as the caudate putamen of the ipsilateral … Read more
Injection of purified tau aggregates from tauopathy patients into the mouse brain can recapitulate main pathological features of the patients tauopathy. This approach thus allows to analyze tauopathy-specific pathologies with a high translational value. For the injection, 9-10 weeks old hTau mice expressing human tau but lacking endogenous tau were used. Mice were unilaterally injected … Read more
