Tg(Th-SNCA*A30P*A53T)39Eric

The transgene contains a 9 kb rat tyrosine hydroxylase promoter, a splice donor/intron/splice acceptor, a poly(A) site from the human growth hormone gene, and a mutated human alpha synuclein cDNA encoding a protein that carries two amino acid substitutions, Ala53Thr and Ala30Pro, which are found in human Parkinson Disease patients. RT-PCR detected transgene expression in midbrain, eye, and adrenal gland. Real time quantitative RT-PCR as well as in situ hybridization histochemistry detected high levels of transgene expression in the midbrain. Catecholaminergic nuclei in the brain of transgenic mice expressed both human mRNA and human protein. These mice express high levels of the human protein in the cell bodies of dopaminergic neurons in the midbrain and its main projection region, the striatum, dopaminergic dendrites, and nigrostriatal axons and terminals. (J:76482)