Invention novelty: The technology is a transgenic mouse strain (SP1) utilizing synphilin-1 to control food intake and body weight thus providing a convenient model for obesity studies.
Value Proposition: The technology provides a unique genetic obesity model for future studies of the pathogenesis of obesity and related disorders.
Key features include:
- Prion protein promoter (PrP) expression of human synphilin-1 predominantly in cytosol of brain neurons
- SP1 mice display increased body weight and body fat
- SP1 mice display increase appetites
- Expression of Synphilin-1 causes no neurodenegeration
- SP1 mice had normal life spans compared to normal mice
- SP1 mice also display hyperinsulinemia, hyperleptinemia and impaired glucose tolerance
Technical Details: Johns Hopkins researchers have developed a mouse line that has been engineered to express human synphillin-l protein in the brain neurons under the control of the mPrP promoter. Genetic mouse models are powerful tools for understanding the pathogenesis of many diseases including obesity. Immunohistochemical analysis of the SP1 strain showed that synphilin-1 was predominantly expressed in neurons throughout the brain. The life span of the SP1 mice was the same as non-transgenic mice. Most notably, the SP1 mice displayed striking obese phenotypes including progressive increases in body weight, fat depots, hyperleptinemia, hyperinsulinemia and impaired glucose tolerance. Taken together, the findings identify a new biological function for synphilin-1 and provide a novel genetic mouse model that may allow a greater understanding of the pathogenesis of obesity and contribute to the development of novel therapeutics.
Publication(s)/Associated Cases: Int J Obes (Lond). 2011 Dec 13.
Hum Mol Genet. 2010 Jun 1
