Skip to main content

Filter Search Results

Publication Year

Animal Models

Topic Area

Methods

Funding Mechanism

Division of Comparative Medicine

Collaborating ICs

Selected Grantee Publications

Evidence in Primates Supporting the Use of Chemogenetics for the Treatment of Human Refractory Neuropsychiatric Disorders

Roseboom et al., Molecular Therapy. 2021.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymthe.2021.04.021

A rhesus macaque model for pathological anxiety was used to investigate the feasibility of decreasing anxiety using chemogenetics, known as DREADDs (designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs), to reduce amygdala neuronal activity. A low-dose clozapine administration strategy was developed to induce DREADD-mediated amygdala inhibition. Compared to controls, clozapine selectively decreased anxiety-related freezing behavior in the human intruder paradigm in the chemogentic monkeys, while coo vocalizations and locomotion were unaffected. These results are an important step in establishing chemogenetic strategies for patients with refractory neuropsychiatric disorders in which amygdala alterations are central to disease pathophysiology. Supported by ORIP (P51OD011106), NIMH, and NICHD. 

Autologous Transplant Therapy Alleviates Motor and Depressive Behaviors in Parkinsonian Monkeys

Tao et al., Nature Medicine. 2021.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01257-1

Generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) enables standardized of dopamine (DA) neurons for autologous transplantation therapy to improve motor functions in Parkinson disease (PD). Adult male rhesus PD monkeys receiving autologous, but not allogenic, transplantation exhibited recovery from motor and depressive signs of PD over a 2-year period without immunosuppressive therapy. Mathematical modeling showed correlations between surviving DA neurons with PET signal intensity and behavior recovery regardless of autologous or allogeneic transplant, suggesting a predictive power of PET and motor behaviors for surviving DA neuron number. The results demonstrate favorable efficacy of the autologous transplant approach to treat PD. Supported by ORIP (P51OD011106) NINDS, and NICHD.