GAINESVILLE, Fla., Nov. 16 (UPI) -- University of Florida and California Institute of Technology researchers say they have genetically modified mice to mimic symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.
The engineered mice will allow scientists to examine the usefulness of new therapies for Alzheimer's disease and to evaluate the brain's ability to repair senile plaque.
The plaque occurs when enzymes create peptide fragments called beta amyloid, also known as Abeta. The fragments form senile plaque, clogging spaces between cells, damage parts of the brain used for memory and decision-making.
The mice were engineered to respond to a type of therapy designed to lower production of Abeta by inhibiting enzymes responsible for peptide release.
"The popular expectation was once the peptide accumulating into the plaques went away, the plaque itself would dissolve," the lead author of the study, Joanna Jankowsky, a California Institute of Technology biologist, said. "But it may be similar to coronary artery disease: once plaques start to occlude your arteries, it's not clear that stopping the contribution to growth will make the occlusion break up and go away."
The research is reported in the open-access medical journal PloS Medicine.
