Chapter category: Neurodegenerative Disease
Biology and Pathology of the Weaver Mutant Mouse
Dopaminergic Neuron Transplantation in the Weaver Mouse Model of Parkinson's Disease
Edited by: Lazaros TriarhouISBN: 0-306-47435-2
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Chapter authors:
Lazaros C. Triarhou
The weaver mutant mouse (wv/wv) is characterized by a genetically-induced degeneration of mesostriatal dopamine (DA) neurons. In that sense, it can be viewed as a pathophysiological phenocopy of Parkinsonism and, therefore, an invaluable experimental model for investigating mechanisms of progressive DA neuron degeneration, as well as issues of the survival and growth of intrastriatally grafted fetal DA neurons in the chronically denervated striatum.1-3
The weaver (wv) mutation also interferes with the survival and organization of neurons in the cerebellar cortex and the hippocampus. The anatomical systems affected by the wv gene are of particular interest regarding development and degeneration. In particular, the cerebellar lesion of the weaver cerebellum has presented a forum for extensive studies on mechanisms of neurite extension, neuronal migration, and the remodeling of synaptic circuitry.
The weaver model has particular merit if one considers that in humans, genetically-determined loss of mesencephalic DA neurons occurs in familial Parkinson's disease and in cases of multiple systems atrophies that include olivopontocerebellar degeneration (Menzel type) and primary degeneration of the granular layer of the cerebellum of Norman type.412 Such diseases provide a link between cerebellar atrophies and nigrostriatal/striatonigral degenerations.
Additional chapters from this book:
Directions for Future Research
Lazaros C. Triarhou
Our groundwork, first, introduced and characterized in detail the weaver mouse as a model of spontaneous progressive dopamine (DA) deficiency similar to Parkinson's disease, and secondly, l...
Behavioral Recovery of Functional Responses
Lazaros C. Triarhou
Studies in rats have shown that unilateral destruction of the nigrostriatal pathway by 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) results in a spontaneous rotational bias to the side ipsilateral to the les...
Neurochemical Indices of Functional Restoration
Lazaros C. Triarhou
A general asset of the weaver model is that one can study graft development at the same time as the animal's own dopamine (DA) system continues to undergo a progressive degeneration, which is ...
Structural Correlates of Process Outgrowth and Circuit Reconstruction
Lazaros C. Triarhou
Certain cellular mechanisms by which grafts promote recovery in experimental animals have been deciphered.1,2 It has been suggested that a multitude of trophic, neurohumoral and ...
Histochemical Properties of Intrastriatal Mesencephalic Grafts
Lazaros C. Triarhou
The rationale behind neural transplantation studies using the weaver mouse model has been to replace degenerated neurons that are lost in the neurogenetic disease by intracerebrally grafted fe...
Biology and Pathology of the Weaver Mutant Mouse
Lazaros C. Triarhou
The weaver mutant mouse (wv/wv) is characterized by a genetically-induced degeneration of mesostriatal dopamine (DA) neurons. In that sense, it can be viewed as a pathophysiological phenoco...
Introduction
Lazaros C. Triarhou
Dopamine and Parkinson's Disease
Movement control is accomplished by complex interactions among various groups of nerve cells in the central nervous system. One such important group ofneurons...
