Animal models

…should combine human studies with animal models. This workshop examines why animal models remain necessary for some medical questions and how complementary experimental systems can support stronger conclusions. Case studies connect brain organoids and zebrafish in rare genetic disease, rodent and human neuromodulatory systems, translation from rat experiments to clinical research, and human versus non-human primate contributions to understanding decisions and movement. A concluding

…and biomarkers with cellular and animal models, functional-genomic screening and measurements of morphology and transcription. Fellows develop independent projects during a three-year programme with a possible fourth year.

The National Center for Gene Therapy and RNA Technology, funded by the Next Generation EU PNRR project of the Italian Ministry of Research, aims to establish a collaborative hub where leading academic groups from Italian research institutions collaborate with national and international pharmaceutical, diagnostic companies, and contract research organizations. Together, they are dedicated to advancing RNA drug development. As part of this initiative, Spoke#9 harnesses cutting-edge methodologies to devise novel protocols ensuring the reproducible, rapid, and safe analysis of RNA drug absorption,

…This issue is compounded by animal models that inadequately reflect critical patient characteristics, such as health status and age, and the predominant use of male subjects, despite stroke affecting all genders. Consequently, treatments validated in male-centric models may prove ineffective or even detrimental for females. To gain a comprehensive understanding of sex-specific mechanisms underlying stroke injury, protection, and repair, we are

…probing this condition in pre-clinical animal models. The goal of our research is to develop and exploit innovative frameworks for the study of psychosis in mice. In our present work, where we developed a cross-species computational psychiatry approach to probe hallucination-like perception. This enabled us to directly relate human and mouse behavior, and to demonstrate and dissect the causal role of striatal dopamine i

Interpretation of interval timing data generated from animal models is complicated by ostensible motivational effects which arise from the delay-to-reward imposed by interval timing tasks, as well as overlap between timed and non-timed responses. These factors become increasingly prevalent at longer intervals. To address these concerns, two adjustments to long interval timing tasks are proposed. First, subjects should be afforded with reinforced non-timing behaviors concurrent with timing. Second, subjects should initiate the onset of timed stimuli. Under these conditions, interference by extr

…of neurodegeneration is the absence of animal models that fully recapitulate features of the human diseases. Unprecedented opportunities to tackle this challenge are emerging e.g. from genome engineering and stem cell technologies, and there are intense efforts to develop models with a high translational value. Simultaneously, single-cell, multi-omics and optogenetics technologies now allow longitudinal, molecular and functional analysis of human disease processes in these models at high resolution. During this workshop, 12 experts w

…being increasingly becoming adopted as animal models in neuroscience. Knowledge about the marmoset visual system has developed rapidly over the last decade. But what are the comparative advantages, and disadvantages involved in adopting this emerging model, as opposed to the more traditionally used macaque monkey? In this talk I will present case studies where the simpler brain morphology and short developmental cycle of the marmoset have been key factors in facilitating discoveries about the anatomy and physiology of th

…To date, animal models carrying mutations of genes so far identified in human patients with brain malformations only partially recapitulate the expected phenotypes and therefore do not provide reliable models to entirely understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms responsible for these disorders. Hence, we combine the in vivo mouse model and the human brain organoids in order to better comprehend the mechanisms involved in the migration of neurons during human development and tackle the cause