TY - JOUR
T1 - Tau deposition drives neuropathological, inflammatory and behavioral abnormalities independently of neuronal loss in a novel mouse model
AU - Cook, Casey
AU - Kang, Silvia S.
AU - Carlomagno, Yari
AU - Lin, Wen Lang
AU - Yue, Mei
AU - Kurti, Aishe
AU - Shinohara, Mitsuru
AU - Jansen-West, Karen
AU - Perkerson, Emilie
AU - Castanedes-Casey, Monica
AU - Rousseau, Linda
AU - Phillips, Virginia
AU - Bu, Guojun
AU - Dickson, Dennis W.
AU - Petrucelli, Leonard
AU - Fryer, John D.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author 2015.
PY - 2015/11/1
Y1 - 2015/11/1
N2 - Aberrant tau protein accumulation drives neurofibrillary tangle (NFT) formation in several neurodegenerative diseases. Currently, efforts to elucidate pathogenic mechanisms and assess the efficacy of therapeutic targets are limited by constraints of existing models of tauopathy. In order to generate amore versatile mousemodel of tauopathy, somatic brain transgenesiswas utilized to deliver adeno-associated virus serotype 1 (AAV1) encoding human mutant P301L-tau comparedwith GFP control. At 6months of age, we observed widespread human tau expression with concomitant accumulation of hyperphosphorylated and abnormally folded proteinase K resistant tau. However, no overt neuronal loss was observed, though significant abnormalities were noted in the postsynaptic scaffolding protein PSD95. Neurofibrillary pathologywas also detected with Gallyas silver stain and Thioflavin-S, and electron microscopy revealed the deposition of closely packed filaments. In addition to classic markers of tauopathy, significant neuroinflammation and extensive gliosis were detected in AAV1-TauP301L mice. This model also recapitulates the behavioral phenotype characteristic ofmousemodels of tauopathy, including abnormalities in exploration, anxiety, and learning andmemory. These findings indicate that biochemical and neuropathological hallmarks of tauopathies are accurately conserved and are independent of cell death in this novel AAV-based model of tauopathy, which offers exceptional versatility and speed in comparison with existing transgenic models. Therefore, we anticipate this approach will facilitate the identification and validation of genetic modifiers of disease, as well as accelerate preclinical assessment of potential therapeutic targets.
AB - Aberrant tau protein accumulation drives neurofibrillary tangle (NFT) formation in several neurodegenerative diseases. Currently, efforts to elucidate pathogenic mechanisms and assess the efficacy of therapeutic targets are limited by constraints of existing models of tauopathy. In order to generate amore versatile mousemodel of tauopathy, somatic brain transgenesiswas utilized to deliver adeno-associated virus serotype 1 (AAV1) encoding human mutant P301L-tau comparedwith GFP control. At 6months of age, we observed widespread human tau expression with concomitant accumulation of hyperphosphorylated and abnormally folded proteinase K resistant tau. However, no overt neuronal loss was observed, though significant abnormalities were noted in the postsynaptic scaffolding protein PSD95. Neurofibrillary pathologywas also detected with Gallyas silver stain and Thioflavin-S, and electron microscopy revealed the deposition of closely packed filaments. In addition to classic markers of tauopathy, significant neuroinflammation and extensive gliosis were detected in AAV1-TauP301L mice. This model also recapitulates the behavioral phenotype characteristic ofmousemodels of tauopathy, including abnormalities in exploration, anxiety, and learning andmemory. These findings indicate that biochemical and neuropathological hallmarks of tauopathies are accurately conserved and are independent of cell death in this novel AAV-based model of tauopathy, which offers exceptional versatility and speed in comparison with existing transgenic models. Therefore, we anticipate this approach will facilitate the identification and validation of genetic modifiers of disease, as well as accelerate preclinical assessment of potential therapeutic targets.
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U2 - 10.1093/hmg/ddv336
DO - 10.1093/hmg/ddv336
M3 - Article
C2 - 26276810
AN - SCOPUS:84949187245
SN - 0964-6906
VL - 24
SP - 6198
EP - 6212
JO - Human molecular genetics
JF - Human molecular genetics
IS - 21
ER -