mouse model tagged posts

Luigi Puglielli working in the lab. Credit: Clint Thayer, UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health Department of Medicine

A new mouse model is the first to show that when more of acetyl-CoA moves between different parts of nerve cells in the mouse brain, it can lead to behaviors that resembles some aspects of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in humans. Acetyl-CoA, is a major part of the process cells use to make energy from food. It’s also used within cells to tag different proteins, which influences where and how they function. Local concentrations of acetyl-CoA and its movement, or flux, between different areas within cells is tightly regulated.

“We show, for the very first time, that changes in acetyl-CoA flux, and not just changes in its levels, in individual neurons can affect ne...

Copper, zinc superoxide dismutase is essential to life, but when damaged can become toxic. Credit: Photo courtesy of Oregon State University

OSU researchers have announced that they have essentially stopped the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease, for nearly 2 years in one type of mouse model used to study the disease – allowing the mice to approach their normal lifespan. In decades of work, no treatment can do anything but prolong human survival less than a month in ALS. This mouse model is one that may more closely resemble the human reaction to this treatment, using copper-ATSM. Researchers are moving as quickly as possible toward human clinical trials, testing first for safety and then efficacy.

ALS is known to be caused by the death and deterior...