Psychogenics Picks Up Alzheimer’s Animal Model From USF

PsychoGenics obtained an exclusive license from the University of South Florida to its APP/PS1 double transgenic mice, which co-express the M146L presenilin 1 (PS1) mutation and the double mutations at K670N/M671L (Swedish mutation) in the amyloid precursor protein (APP). 

Developed by Karen Duff, Ph.D., and John Hardy, Ph.D., and studied in collaboration with David Morgan, Ph.D., and Marcia Gordon, Ph.D., at USF, these mice exhibit age-related cognitive impairment and an associated increase in Abeta. At eight months the mice reportedly show a selective impairment of spatial memory that gets progressively worse with age and at 22 months is accompanied by reduced glucose utilization in the hippocampus, a 35% loss of neurons in the CA1 region of the hippocampus, and substantially elevated Abeta load.

"This APP/PS1 mouse model has been extensively characterized, and we are delighted to be able to offer it to our clients to help advance Alzheimer's disease drug discovery," said Emer Leahy, Ph.D., president and CEO of PsychoGenics, in a statement. "We intend to further characterize the model and hope to be able to identify early onset and robust behavioral and physiological measures, as well as translational biomarkers, as we have done for other neurodegenerative disorders such as Huntington's disease."