Home

   Research

   Publications

   Group

   Collaborators

   Seminars

   Global Wlds

   Discussion

   Job Ad ^new

   Last modified: 10/01/2002 by

Weiqian Mi

WldS Breeding Colony Appeal

We would urgently like to trace any breeding colonies of Wld^S mice (or under the former name of C57BL/Ola) that have been maintained completely separately from the Harlan (UK) stock since earlier than 1998.  If you have them let us know and we would like to analyse the genotype.  We would like to find out whether substrains have emerged, since the triplication may not be completely stable. 

Note: We are already aware that there are colonies at Emory, USA and Biosonda, Chile.

Is there a slow Wallerian degeneration mutant in your laboratory ?

Consider the following points:

(1) The Wld^S mutant mouse is phenotypically indistiguishable from other C57BL mice in the absence of a nerve lesion so its fortuitous discovery was a great surprise. 

(2) There has been no systematic screening for other such spontaneous mutants.

(3) The Wld protein extremely unlikely to act alone to delay Wallerian degeneration.  This is suggested both by the analogy drawn with apoptosis and by the indirect mechanism and mediating factors we propose to explain how it can protect axons from a predominantly nuclear location. 

(4) The identity of the Wld gene now gives a lead into the protective mechanism.  If you have mice with spontaneous or targeted mutations in related genes (e.g., ubiquitination factors, NAD metabolism), get in touch and we can discuss how to test for this remarkable phenotype.