TRANSGENIC NON-HUMAN MAMMAL DISPLAYING THE AMYLOID-FORMING PATHOLOGY OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

摘要

Cloned recombinant or synthetic DNA sequences related to the pathology of Alzheimer's disease are injected into fertilized mammalian eggs (preferably mice eggs). The injected eggs are implanted in pseudo pregnant females and are grown to term to provide transgenic mice whose cells express proteins related to the pathology of Alzheimer's disease. The injected sequences are constructed having promoter sequences connected so as to express the desired protein in specific tissues of the transgenic mammal (most notably in nerve tissue). The proteins which are preferably ubiquitously expressed include (1) β-amyloid core precursor proteins; and (2) β-amyloid related precursor proteins; and (3) serine protease inhibitor. The transgenic mice provide useful models for studying compounds being tested for their usefulness in treating Alzheimer's disease, and for studying the in vivo interrelationships of these proteins to each other.