# The Vervet Research Colony as Biomedical Resource

> **NIH NIH P40** · WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2021 · $352,272

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease causing dementia in the elderly.
Vervets/African green monkeys are an excellent nonhuman primate model to study the various pathological
changes associated with progression of AD. In recent years, there has been a paradigm shift for the diagnosis
of AD using molecular imaging of AD-specific biomarkers via positron emission tomography (PET). Reduction
of several biomarkers are implicated in early stages of AD pathogenesis. For example, loss of (a) G-coupled
receptor proteins including GPR119 in insulin-triggered regulatory pathways and (b) synaptic density including
synaptic vesicle 2A (SV2A) levels are associated with severe cognitive decline processes in the neurological
cascade of AD. A key unanswered question is whether the quantitative nature of PET can be used to measure
the in vivo concentrations of GPR119 and SV2A in AD. Our goal in this supplement is to develop and validate
GPR119 and SV2A as novel imaging biomarkers in a vervet model of AD. In Aim 1, we will develop two
potential triazole-based GPR119 agonists and radiolabel them with [11C] and [18F] PET isotopes. GPR119
imaging properties of both the radiotracers will be evaluated in a cohort vervets with variation in age, HbA1c
and archived CSF Aβ levels. In Aim 2, we will validate the synaptic density measuring parameters of an
established SV2A PET imaging radiotracer, [11C]UCB-J, in the same cohort of vervets from Aim 1. The PET
imaging data described here will be used as the basis for a future R01 application that further expands the use
of the vervet model of AD.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10285192
- **Project number:** 3P40OD010965-17S1
- **Recipient organization:** WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** Matthew Jorgensen
- **Activity code:** P40 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $352,272
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2004-07-01 → 2025-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10285192

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10285192, The Vervet Research Colony as Biomedical Resource (3P40OD010965-17S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10285192. Licensed CC0.

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