• Approximately 30% of Pink1 knockout rats display a hindlimb-dragging phenotype at 8 months of age
• Background strain: Long Evans Hooded
• Homozygous knockout rats display total loss of protein via Western blot
• Pink1 knockout rats show increased hindlimb fatigue at 7 weeks of age
• Pink1 knockout rats show increased number of hindlimb foot slips at 5 and 9 weeks of age as assessed by tapered balance beam
• Preliminary reports have suggested Pink1 knockout rats show a ~50% reduction in dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra at 8 months of age

Availability: Live colony
Zygosity genotype: Homozygous

Developed in collaboration with The Michael J. Fox Foundation, this model contains a deletion of the Pink1 (PTEN-induced putative kinase 1) gene, encoding for a serine/threonine protein kinase. Mutations in Pink1 are implicated in early-onset Parkinson's disease. Pink1 knockout rats show both motor impairments and dopaminergic cell loss, making this a useful model of Parkinson's disease.

This model is being developed in partner with the Michael J. Fox Foundation as part of our Parkinson's disease research suite. Pink1 protein kinase localizes to the mitochondria and is thought to protect cells from stress-induced mitochondrial dysfunction. Mutations within this gene result in one form of autosomal recessive early-onset Parkinson's.