Patent ID: 7273964

Claim:
A transgenic mouse whose genome comprises transgenes comprising sequences that encode a variable heavy chain and a variable light chain of an NGF-specific antibody or fragment thereof, wherein the expressed transgene products combine to form an antibody or fragment thereof that is specific for NGF and prevents binding of NGF to its receptors, said transgenes being detectably expressed in the mouse by 90 days postnatal, and said mouse having, or being predisposed to the development of (a) abnormally processed amyloid precursor protein, (b) amyloid precursor protein and/or β-amyloid protein plaques in the CNS, (c) hyperphosphorylation of tau protein, (d) neurofibrillary tangles in the brain, (e) cholinergic deficit, (f) neuronal loss in the cortex of the brain, and (g) cognitive deficit.