The mdx mouse is a popular model for studying
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).
The mdx mouse has a point mutation in its DMD gene, changing the
amino acid
Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha ...
coding for a glutamine to STOP codon. This causes the muscle
cells to
produce a small, nonfunctional
dystrophin protein.
As a result, the mouse has a mild form of DMD where there is increased muscle damage and weakness.
References
Laboratory mouse strains
Muscular dystrophy
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