Zitter rat was detected in a Sprague Dawley colony (SD) in Hannover in 1978 by Rehm. 1983 introduced to Kyoto University and established ZI. (10.1.26)
Strain characteristics
ZI strain develops a generalized body tremor at about 15 days of age, and with increasing age a progressive flaccid paresis of the hind limb occurs (Rehm, 1982). The main pathological findings are hypomyelination and vacuolation in the central nervous system (Rehm, 1982, Kondo, 1991). By positional cloning, a marked decrease in Atrn mRNA in the brain of the ZI rat and zi as an 8-bp deletion at a splice donor site of intron 12 of Atrn were found (Kuramoto, 2001). (09.6.19)
Breeding Conditions
Good breeding performance.
Genotyping
References
Kuramoto T, Kitada K, Inui T, Sasaki Y, Ito K, Hase T, Kawagachi S, Ogawa Y, Nakao K, Barsh GS, Nagao M, Ushijima T, Serikawa T.
Attractin/Mahogany/Zitter plays a critical role in myelination of the central nervous system.
Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 98 (2): 559-564, 2001.
Ueda S, Sakakibara S, Watanabe E, Yoshimoto K, Koibuchi N.
Vulnerability of monoaminergic neurons in the brainstem of the zitter rat in oxidative stress.
Prog Brain Res. 136:293-302, 2002.
Joyce JN, Yoshimoto K, Ueda S.
The zitter mutant rat exhibits loss of D3 receptors with degeneration of the dopamine system.
Neuroreport. 2000 Jul 14;11(10):2173-5.
Ueda S, Aikawa M, Ishizuya-Oka A, Yamaoka S, Koibuchi N, Yoshimoto K.
Age-related dopamine deficiency in the mesostriatal dopamine system of zitter mutant rats: regional fiber vulnerability in the striatum and the olfactory tubercle.
Neuroscience. 2000;95(2):389-98.
Muto Y, Hayashi T, Higashi Y, Endo T, Yamamoto T, Sato K.
Age-related decrease in brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene expression in the brain of the zitter rat with genetic spongiform encephalopathy.
Neurosci Lett. 1999 Aug 20;271(2):69-72.
Ueda S, Aikawa M, Ishizuya-Oka A, Koibuchi N, Yamaoka S, Yoshimoto K.
Age-related degeneration of the serotoninergic fibers in the zitter rat brain.
Synapse. 1998 Sep;30(1):62-70.
Rehm S, Mehraein P, Anzil AP, Deerberg F.
A new rat mutant with defective overhairs and spongy degeneration of the central nervous system: clinical and pathologic studies.
Lab Anim Sci. 32(1):70-3, 1982.
Kondo A, Sato Y, Nagara H.
An ultrastructural study of oligodendrocytes in zitter rat: a new animal model for hypomyelination in the CNS.
J Neurocytol. 20(11):929-39, 1991.
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Segregating