The widest range of industry-leading Parkinson’s disease models
With more rodent and NHP models than anyone else in our field, Atuka is unsurpassed in being able to provide the best-tailored preclinical program to evaluate any potential therapeutic.
Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that progresses gradually, predominantly affecting nervous system functioning through the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. Visible symptoms include tremors, slow or decreased movement (bradykinesia and hypokinesia, respectively), limb stiffness, and gait and balance impairments. Other symptoms include depression, apathy, hallucinations, sleep disorders, loss of smell, and numerous cognitive impairments.
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Non-human primate models of Parkinson‘s disease
Atuka has conducted primate Parkinson’s disease studies of over 100 macaques within a single study, allowing us to perform studies that no other CRO can. These studies can evaluate efficacy, pharmacokinetics, and bioanalysis, in vivo brain imaging, surgical delivery of vectors/compounds to the brain, intrathecal delivery, functional observational batteries, tissue and blood collection, and physiological parameter monitoring.
Symptomatic
- MPTP-lesioned macaque (early or advanced disease model)
Side-effects (motor and non-motor)
- Chronic L-DOPA treated MPTP-lesioned macaque (advanced)
Disease modification
- MPTP-lesioned macaque (early)
- AAV α-synuclein macaque
- PFF α-synuclein macaque
Cognition
- Chronic low-dose MPTP-treated macaques
Other primate models
- Biodistribution (e.g., for AAV based gene therapies, ASOs)
- Non-GLP toxicity
- Anxiety assessment using the Human Intruder Test (HIT)
Rodent models of Parkinson‘s disease
We offer numerous well-characterized rodent models of Parkinson’s disease and movement-related disorders, including models that go through a rapid degeneration process, allowing faster evaluation of test compounds.
Disease modification
- AAV α-synuclein rat and mouse
- PFF α-synuclein rat and mouse
- MPTP-lesioned mouse
- 6-OHDA lesion rat (partial)
Symptomatic
- AAV α-synuclein rat
- 6-OHDA-lesioned rat (full or partial lesion)
- Reserpine or haloperidol treated rat
Side-effects (motor and non-motor)
- High-dose L-DOPA-treated reserpine rat
- Chronic L-DOPA-treated 6-OHDA-lesion mouse or rat (full)
- De novo L-DOPA-treated 6-OHDA-lesion mouse or rat
Primate cognition models
Cognitive impairment and dementia are hallmarks of many diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. They cause a long-term and often gradual decrease in mental ability, negatively impacting quality of life for patients and those who care for them. There is currently no cure for cognitive impairment or dementia.
Atuka’s neuroscientists have deep expertise in this area, and we offer access to numerous non-human primates for the development of potentially life-altering neurotherapeutic medicines. Atuka provides numerous non-human primate models and extensive cognitive testing capabilities to assess the impact of your compound. We also have comprehensive behavioural, imaging (MRI/PET), pharmacokinetics, safety, blood chemistry, and postmortem capabilities.
Normal young adult macaques
- To test cognitive effects of any compound (PAL, DMTS, OR)
Scopolamine-treated young adult macaques
- Models of cognitive deficits in Alzheimer’s disease (PAL, DMTS, OR)
Normal-aged macaques (20-25 years old)
- Model of cognitive deficits in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (PAL, DMTS, ID/ED, OR)
Chronic low-dose MPTP-treated macaques
- Model of cognitive deficits in Parkinson’s disease, ADHD, and schizophrenia (VDR, CPT, ID/ED, OR)
Cognitive tests
- Paired Associative Learning (PAL)
- Delayed Matching to Sample (DMTS)
- Five-choice Serial reaction Time (5-CSRT)
- Variable Delayed Response (VDR)
- Attentional Set Shifting/Intra-Extra Dimensional shift (ID/ED)
- Continuous Performance Task (CPT)
- Object Retrieval Task
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