How to use Technology Offers

Product name

Mouse model of cerebral white matter offered by UC Davis

Summary

Discovery and validation of novel targets of brain injury

Organization name

UC Davis, Clinical and Translational Science Cente

Profile

Dr. Deng´s research at the US Davis School of Medicine is directly related to the biology of white matter pathology, a woefully understudied area. We believe that a pathway under investigation (Glu-PARP-AIF) is shared between many diseases with this specific neurological component, such as periventricular leukomalacia, multiple sclerosis, transverse myelitis, spinal cord injury, subcortical stroke, pediatric leukodystrophies and lysosomal storage diseases.

There is no therapy to improve or prevent neurological damage associated with these diseases. A significant barrier is the lack of reliable models to study the pathogenesis of the disease and to evaluate therapeutics. Presently, we lack a fundamental understanding of what goes wrong during brain development to cause the disorder, of the root causes for the common variants of cerebral palsy and why the brain fails to undergo repair. Building a better basic understanding of the events that lead to specific white matter brain damage in animal models is one of the first steps we must take if we hope to reduce the incidence of the condition and to develop therapeutic interventions.

Core Technology

Dr. Wenbin Deng´s laboratory is the first to develop a reliable mouse model of white matter brain damage. In contrast to the majority of the brain injury/stroke models characterized by gray matter infarction with characteristic neuronal damage, the neuropathological hallmark of this model is selective white matter lesion with prominent oligodendroglial injury. Our model uniquely enables elucidation of molecular mechanisms of white matter injury, including the role of such poorly understood but critical factors as activated microglia.

Partnering goals (summary)