Typically heterozygous rats are cryo-recovered in 10-12 weeks to an age of 7 weeks old. Subsequently homozygous rats to an age of 7 weeks old can be produced within 20-22 weeks.

• Background strain: Sprague Dawley
• Heterozygous BDNF knockout rats (+/-) display lower total and peripheral activity, suggestive of reduced exploratory behavior
• Heterozygous BDNF knockout rats (+/-) show decrease in freezing behavior in contextual fear conditioning assay, suggestive of emotional learning and memory deficits
• Homozygous knockout rats exhibit complete loss of BDNF protein and have a lifespan of 2-3 days

Availability: Cryopreserved as heterozygous embryos
Zygosity: Heterozygous as live colony

This model contains a monoallelic deletion of the Bdnf gene, encoding for the nerve growth factor protein BDNF. Homozygous animals carrying the Bdnf deletion are postnatal lethal. Reductions of BDNF have been observed in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), and this model may be useful for understanding the role of BDNF in AD.

Bdnf is one of the most active and essential of the neurotophins, contributing to the growth and differentiation of neurons in the hippocampus, cortex and forebrain. These areas are key for cognition, learning and memory. Deficiency in Bdnf levels have been linked to a host of neurological diseases, including Alzheimer's, depression, schizophrenia and dementia, making this an important model for studying the central nervous system.