Transgenic animal models for type II diabetes mellitus

Abstract

The generation of transgenic animal models for testing various treatments of Type II Diabetes Mellitus are described. The DNA construct allows pancreatic β cell-specific expression of human islet associated polypeptide (IAPP) under the regulation of the rat insulin II promoter in both cell lines and transgenic animals. The DNA construct is introduced into animal embryos by microinjection as one or multiple copies or into established cell lines by electroporation. The transgenic animals develop amyloid plaque deposits in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas, fasting hyperglycemia, glycouria and diabetic glomerulosclerosis at 3 to 5 months of age. The cell lines can be screened for treatments that inhibit expression of human IAPP; the transgenic animals can be screened for treatments that either enhance or inhibit the progression of this disease phenotype.

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