Most degenerative diseases begin with a gradual loss of specific cell types that progresses, eventually leading to symptoms. For example, in type I diabetes, hyperglycemia commonly develops when approximately 80 percent of the beta cells in the pancreas are lost; in Parkinson’s disease, motor dysfunction typically begins when neurons in a certain portion of the brain are decreased by 70 to 80 percent. Finding ways to stop early cell destruction is vital, but methods to do so have proven challenging because of limitations of models for early stages of cell loss.A research team led by Albert Edge, Ph.D., principal investigator at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary’s Eaton-Peabody Laboratory and associate professor at Harvard Medical School, have engineered a new mouse that that can be used for research on degenerative disease. Their paper describing the findings was published on May 16 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
