Transgenic Mouse Models for the Study of Neurodegenerative Diseases

Abstract

Neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) are some of the most important health challenges modern medicine and advanced societies face. Indeed, the number of patients affected by one of these illnesses will increase in the following years at the same rate that human life expectancy allows us to live longer. Despite many years of research, NDs remain invariably fatal. A complete understanding of the exact mechanisms leading to neuronal death, which will ideally allow preclinical detection and the development of effective treatments, has not yet been achieved. However, a great deal of information about ND pathology and the search for possible therapies has been acquired using animal models and more precisely transgenic mouse models. In this review, the main contributions of these powerful research tools in NDs as well as their advantages and caveats are discussed.

Keywords: neurodegenerative diseases; transgenic mice.