Cell: GM pigs offer new perspectives on the treatment of Alzheimer's!

Researchers from around the world have been working to understand Alzheimer's disease
for decades.

Cloned pigs are born with mutations in the gene SORL1, which is interesting because these mutations are as high as 2-3%
of all early-onset Alzheimer's cases in humans.

Olav Michael Andersen said: "By tracking the changes in pigs over time, we can better understand the earliest changes in
cells.

Pigs are similar to humans in many ways, which is why this increases the likelihood of
producing drugs that can fight Alzheimer's.

01 Pigs cloned from skin cells

Since the 1990s, researchers have known three genes that, if mutated, can directly lead to Alzheimer's disease
.

Through intensive research over the past 20 years, it has now been established that mutations in the fourth gene, known as SORL1, can also directly lead to widespread dementia disease
.

The researchers created an animal model
of Alzheimer's in piglets by altering one of the four genes currently known to directly cause the disease.

Researchers have also previously developed pig models
targeting Alzheimer's and other diseases through cloning.

In this study, researchers previously used CRISPR-Cas9-based gene editing to disrupt the SORL1 gene
in skin cells extracted from mini-pigs of the Göttingen breed.

These pigs resemble Alzheimer's patients with defects in the SORL1 gene, as opposed to previous models of Alzheimer's pigs, which inserted one or more mutated human genes in hopes of speeding up the disease
.

02 Can I test drugs before the disease breaks out?

Olav Michael Andersen said: "We know from human genetics that when the SORL1 gene is destroyed, we develop Alzheimer's
.

The Danish El Gard Göttingen piggy company owns the rights to the breed and is breeding them
.

Olav Michael Andersen said: "The best thing to do is to develop new drugs on the basis of this pig model, and we have made great progress
in formulations.

Resources:

https://medicalxpress.

https://doi.