PROJECT 2:

Host: Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen

 

Department of Medical Genetics

 

 

PI:
Hoa Nguyen

ESR:
Giuseppe Manfré

Fine motor, impulsivity and social behavior in a transgenic rat model for Huntington Disease (HD)

Huntington Disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative genetic disorder characterized by psychiatric changes, dementia and motor dysfunctions. No effective treatment to influence the onset or the progression of this fatal disease is currently available. The generation and the characterization of a sensitive rodent model for HD is crucial. Infact, a good animal model should reflect as many of the neuropathological and clinical symptoms of the human disease as possible. We have generated an HD transgenic rat model using a human bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC), which contains the full-length HTT genomic sequence with 97 CAG/CAA repeats and all regulatory elements. This transgenic rat model of HD has not been fully characterized yet and our focus will be on fine motor control, impulsivity and social behavior. To characterize the behavior, we will use different paradigms, including a unique integrated system based on video tracking in a home cage situation.