• Approximately 30% of DJ-1 knockout rats show a hindlimb-dragging phenotype that emerges at 4-6 weeks of age and worsens at 5 months
• Background strain: Long Evans Hooded
• DJ-1 knockout rats show impaired open-field mobility at 8 months of age. DJ-1 knockout rats show gait impairments at 8 months of age
• Homozygous knockout rats display total loss of protein via Western blot
• Preliminary reports have suggested DJ-1 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 Park7 (Protein deglycase DJ-1) gene, encoding for the protein DJ-1. Mutations in DJ-1 have been linked to autosomal recessive early-onset Parkinson's disease (PD), making this model useful to further understand the role of DJ-1 in PD.

In humans, loss of function of Park7 leads to a form of early-onset Parkinson's disease. This occurs due to the role Park7 plays in protecting neurons from oxidative stress and cell death, making this an ideal model for the study of Parkinson's disease.