EuroNeurotrophin School 2: In vivo models for neurodegenerative disorders: strengths and limitations

The second training week of EuroNeurotrophin was held in the TU Dresden Faculty of Medicine, starting with School 2. The 4-day long school included theoretical lectures on in vivo models of neurodegenerative disorders, as well as hands-on experience in identification and analysis of these models. The school was organized by the contribution of the following network’s beneficiaries: TU Dresden Faculty of Medicine, Department of Clinical Pathobiochemistry (TUD), Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB-FoRTH), University of Sheffield, Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN) and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VUA).

The first part of the School was taught by TUD, Dr. Vasileia Ismini Alexaki who gave a brief overview on the biology of the laboratory animals, animal welfare, regulations of animal experimentation and ethics of animal experimentation. Dr Alexaki then continued with the pathobiology of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and mouse models of MS. The school continued by Canelif Yılmaz (ESR8) introducing assays and techniques used in animal experimentation, and she conducted hands on sessions on identification of various cell types of the CNS, identification of brain regions with the help of a brain atlas, and quantification of microgliosis and demyelination in Cuprizone mouse model of MS.

In the second part of the School, Prof. Ioannis Charalampopoulos and Dr. Kanelina Karali from IMBB-FoRTH gave lectures on Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology, AD pharmacology, animal models of AD, and ex vivo models of AD. Furthermore, Dr. Kanelina Karali conducted a practical session on behavioral tests used in AD mouse models, and quantification of Aß plaques. Finally, Prof. Ka-Wan Li from VUA gave a lecture on AD proteomics.

In the third and final part of the School, Dr. Richard J. Mead and Dr. Ramesh Tennore from SITraN gave lectures on Motor Neuron Disease (MND), while Dr. Richard Mead focused on mouse models of MND, readouts from these models, and design of in vivo studies. Dr. Ramesh Tennore focused on zebrafish biology, zebrafish models of MND, and high throughput screening conducted in zebrafish. 

The school provided the ESRs with in depth knowledge on pathology of the three major neurodegenerative diseases, MS, AD and MND, as well as currently available treatment options. Furthermore, commonly used animal models for the three diseases were introduced, models’ strengths and shortcomings were explained, and through the practical sessions, ESRs gained experience and insight on how they can utilize these models in their current and future research.