Animal Models of Machado-Joseph Disease

Animal models are an important tool to study the pathophysiology of Machado-Joseph Disease (MJD). So far, animal models using simple organisms (like the round worm Caenorhabditis elegans or the fruit fly drosophila) but also mammalian models (mouse and even a non-human primate model) have been generated to study MJD. While simple organisms made an important contribution to the identification of pathophysiological mechanisms in MJD and were further used for modifier and screening purposes, mammalian models recapitulate major disease features of MJD in humans and are therefore a highly valuable tool for e.g. the validation of mechanisms or for pre-clinical validation of treatment approaches. Here we give an overview about the strategies which were used to model MJD and about the different models generated so far. We further highlight advantages of specific model organisms and describe the new findings which were made employing these animal models of MJD.