Nearly 30 Years of Animal Models to Study Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Historical Overview and Future Perspectives

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal, multigenic, multifactorial, and non-cell autonomous neurodegenerative disease characterized by upper and lower motor neuron loss. Several genetic mutations lead to ALS development and many emerging gene mutations have been discovered in recent years. O...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Tiziana Bonifacino, Roberta Arianna Zerbo, Matilde Balbi, Carola Torazza, Giulia Frumento, Ernesto Fedele, Giambattista Bonanno, Marco Milanese
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: MDPI AG 2021
Materias:
fly
Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/b536ab023b774d06bda5488d372ea589
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
Descripción
Sumario:Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal, multigenic, multifactorial, and non-cell autonomous neurodegenerative disease characterized by upper and lower motor neuron loss. Several genetic mutations lead to ALS development and many emerging gene mutations have been discovered in recent years. Over the decades since 1990, several animal models have been generated to study ALS pathology including both vertebrates and invertebrates such as yeast, worms, flies, zebrafish, mice, rats, guinea pigs, dogs, and non-human primates. Although these models show different peculiarities, they are all useful and complementary to dissect the pathological mechanisms at the basis of motor neuron degeneration and ALS progression, thus contributing to the development of new promising therapeutics. In this review, we describe the up to date and available ALS genetic animal models, classified by the different genetic mutations and divided per species, pointing out their features in modeling, the onset and progression of the pathology, as well as their specific pathological hallmarks. Moreover, we highlight similarities, differences, advantages, and limitations, aimed at helping the researcher to select the most appropriate experimental animal model, when designing a preclinical ALS study.