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Li et al. Ageing Neur Dis 2022;2:12 Ageing and
DOI: 10.20517/and.2022.14
Neurodegenerative
Diseases

Review Open Access

Modeling neurodegenerative diseases using non-
human primates: advances and challenges

Bang Li, Da-Jian He, Xiao-Jiang Li, Xiang-Yu Guo
Guangdong Key Laboratory of Non-human Primate Research, Guangdong-Hongkong-Macau Institute of CNS Regeneration,
Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, Guangdong, China.
Correspondence to: Dr. Xiangyu Guo, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Non-human Primate Research, Guangdong-Hongkong-
Macau Institute of CNS Regeneration, Jinan University, 601 Huangpu Blvd W, Tianhe District, Guangzhou 510632, Guangdong,
China. E-mail: guosapphire@jnu.edu.cn

How to cite this article: Li B, He DJ, Li XJ, Guo XY. Modeling neurodegenerative diseases using non-human primates: advances
and challenges. Ageing Neur Dis 2022;2:12. https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/and.2022.14

Received: 1 Jun 2022 First Decision: 27 Jun 2022 Revised: 5 Jul 2022 Accepted: 18 Jul 2022 Published: 25 Jul 2022

Academic Editor: Weidong Le Copy Editor: Peng-Juan Wen Production Editor: Peng-Juan Wen

Abstract
Neurodegenerative diseases (NDs), such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), Huntington’s
disease (HD), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), are pathologically characterized by progressive loss of
selective populations of neurons in the affected brain regions and clinically manifested by cognitive, motor, and
psychological dysfunctions. Since aging is the major risk factor for NDs and the elderly population is expected to
expand considerably in the coming decades, the prevalence of NDs will significantly increase, leading to a greater
medical burden to society and affected families. Despite extensive research on NDs, no effective therapy is
available for NDs, largely due to a lack of complete understanding of the pathogenesis of NDs. Although research
on small animal and rodent models has provided tremendous knowledge of molecular mechanisms of disease
pathogenesis, few translational successes have been reported in clinical trials. In particular, most genetically
modified rodent models are unable to recapitulate striking and overt neurodegeneration seen in the patient brains.
Non-human primates (NHPs) are the most relevant laboratory animals to humans, and recent studies using NHP
neurodegeneration models have uncovered important pathological features of NDs. Here, we review the unique
features of NHPs for modeling NDs and new insights into AD, PD, and ALS gained from animal models, highlight
the contribution of gene editing techniques to establishing NHP models, and discuss the challenges of investigating
NHP models.

© The Author(s) 2022. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, sharing,
adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as
long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and
indicate if changes were made.

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