Scientific studies suggest that the leukotriene signaling pathway, an inflammatory pathway originally known for its role in asthma, is involved in the pathogenesis of various neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s disease (PD). We evaluated whether blocking of leukotriene signaling using the approved anti-asthmatic drug Montelukast (MTK) improves motor impairments in the Line 61 mouse model of …

Mutations in the human GBA (glucosylceramidase-β) gene are associated with lowered glucosylceramidase-β (GCase) activity and are shown to be relevant for the development of Gaucher disease. The enzyme is further highly discussed as therapeutic target in Parkinson`s disease research. The GBA-D409V-KI mouse model expresses the mutant D427V GBA protein which corresponds to the D409V mutation …

The importance of microglia for neurodegenerative diseases is well-known and these cells are therefore frequently used as a target for new pharmacological interventions. To study this cell type, isolation of early postnatal microglia from mice is a great tool but does not properly reflect conditions in aged or diseased individuals. Isolation of viable microglia from …

Multi-Channel Imaging to Visualize Renal Inflammation in an Alport Disease Mouse Model While we are specialists for neuronal tissue, we also routinely process tissue of peripheral organs: Kidney of the Alport syndrome mouse model Col4A3-/- was labeled for macrophages and leukocytes (Fig.1) as well as T-lymphocytes and macrophages (Fig.2), followed by automated slide scanning.   …

Establishment of the CCl4 mouse model allows preclinical testing of your new anti-fibrotic drugs. Liver fibrosis occurs in most types of chronic liver diseases. In humans, researchers were already able to show that liver fibrosis is reversible, fostering the development of anti-fibrotic drugs. To test the efficacy of these new drugs, proper preclinical models are …