Sex-Related Motor Deficits in the Tau-P301L Mouse Model.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Camargo LC
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8471835 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau in the entorhinal cortex (EC) is one of the earliest pathological hallmarks in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). It can occur before significant A? deposition and appears to "spread" into anatomically connected brain regions. To determine whether this early-stage pathology is sufficient to cause disease progression and cognitive decline in experimental models, we overexpressed mutant human tau (hTauP301L) predominantly in layer II/III neurons of the mouse EC. Cognitive functions remained normal in mice at 4, 8, 12 and 16 months of age, despite early and extensive tau accumulation in the EC. Perforant path (PP) axon terminals within the dentate gyrus (DG) contained abnormal conformations of tau even in young EC-hTau mice, and phosphorylated tau increased with age in both the EC and PP. In old mice, ultrastructural alterations in presynaptic terminals were observed at PP-to-granule cell synapses. Phosphorylated tau was more abundant in presynaptic than postsynaptic elements. Human and pathological tau was also detected within hippocampal neurons of this mouse model. Thus, hTauP301L accumulation predominantly in the EC and related presynaptic pathology in hippocampal circuits was not sufficient to cause robust cognitive deficits within the age range analyzed here.
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Project description:Accumulation of microtubule associated protein tau in the substantia nigra is associated with several tauopathies including progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). A number of studies have used mutant tau transgenic mouse model to mimic the neuropathology of tauopathies and disease phenotypes. However, tau expression in these transgenic mouse models is not specific to brain subregions, and may not recapitulate subcortical disease phenotypes of PSP. It is necessary to develop a new disease modeling system for cell and region-specific expression of pathogenic tau for modeling PSP in mouse brain. In this study, we developed a novel strategy to express P301L mutant tau to the dopaminergic neurons of substantia nigra by coupling tyrosine hydroxylase promoter Cre-driver mice with a Cre-inducible adeno-associated virus (iAAV). The results showed that P301L mutant tau was successfully transduced in the dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra at the presence of Cre recombinase and iAAV. Furthermore, the iAAV-tau-injected mice displayed severe motor deficits including impaired movement ability, motor balance, and motor coordination compared to the control groups over a short time-course. Immunochemical analysis revealed that tau gene transfer significantly resulted in loss of tyrosine hydroxylase-positive dopaminergic neurons and elevated phosphorylated tau in the substantia nigra. Our development of dopaminergic neuron-specific neurodegenerative mouse model with tauopathy will be helpful for studying the underlying mechanism of pathological protein propagation as well as development of new therapies.
| S-EPMC6898791 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Advances in tau biology and the difficulties of amyloid-directed immunotherapeutics have heightened interest in tau as a target for small molecule drug discovery for neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we evaluated OLX-07010, a small molecule inhibitor of tau self-association, for the prevention of tau aggregation. The primary endpoint of the study was statistically significant reduction of insoluble tau aggregates in treated JNPL3 mice compared with Vehicle-control mice. Secondary endpoints were dose-dependent reduction of insoluble tau aggregates, reduction of phosphorylated tau, and reduction of soluble tau. This study was performed in JNPL3 mice, which are representative of inherited forms of 4-repeat tauopathies with the P301L tau mutation (e.g., progressive supranuclear palsy and frontotemporal dementia). The P301L mutation makes tau prone to aggregation; therefore, JNPL3 mice present a more challenging target than mouse models of human tau without mutations. JNPL3 mice were treated from 3 to 7 months of age with Vehicle, 30 mg/kg compound dose, or 40 mg/kg compound dose. Biochemical methods were used to evaluate self-associated tau, insoluble tau aggregates, total tau, and phosphorylated tau in the hindbrain, cortex, and hippocampus. The Vehicle group had higher levels of insoluble tau in the hindbrain than the Baseline group; treatment with 40 mg/kg compound dose prevented this increase. In the cortex, the levels of insoluble tau were similar in the Baseline and Vehicle groups, indicating that the pathological phenotype of these mice was beginning to emerge at the study endpoint and that there was a delay in the development of the phenotype of the model as originally characterized. No drug-related adverse effects were observed during the 4-month treatment period.
| S-EPMC10411817 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Many neurodegenerative diseases are increasing in prevalence and cannot be prevented or cured. If they shared common pathogenic mechanisms, treatments targeting such mechanisms might be of benefit in multiple conditions. The tau protein has been implicated in the pathogenesis of diverse neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). Tau reduction prevents cognitive deficits, behavioral abnormalities and other pathological changes in multiple AD mouse models. Here we examined whether tau reduction also prevents motor deficits and pathological alterations in two mouse models of PD, generated by unilateral striatal injection of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) or transgene-mediated neuronal expression of human wildtype ?-synuclein. Both models were evaluated on Tau(+/+), Tau(+/-) and Tau(-/-) backgrounds in a variety of motor tests. Tau reduction did not prevent motor deficits caused by 6-OHDA and slightly worsened one of them. Tau reduction also did not prevent 6-OHDA-induced loss of dopaminergic terminals in the striatum. Similarly, tau reduction did not prevent motor deficits in ?-synuclein transgenic mice. Our results suggest that tau has distinct roles in the pathogeneses of AD and PD and that tau reduction may not be of benefit in the latter condition.
| S-EPMC3242771 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Mice of indicated sexes and genotypes were perfused and their brains dissected and dissociated. Cells were fixed, immunolabeled and FACS sorted. RNA was extracted from neuron, astrocyte, and microglial cell populations. Typical RIN=4-5 for neurons, 6-8 for astrocytes, and 5-7 for microglia. Typical RNA yields ~100ng for neurons, ~20ng for microglia, and ~10ng for astrocytes. cDNA was generated from up to 25 ng of total RNA using Nugen’s RNA-Seq method for low-input RNA samples, Ovation RNA-Seq System V2 (NuGEN). (Per manufacturers instructions, total RNA was neither depleted of rRNA nor polyA-selected.) 1 μg of sheared cDNA was taken into further processing, starting at end repair step, using Illumina’s TruSeq RNA Sample Preparation Kit v2 (Illumina). The "SAMPLE_ID" sample characteristic is a sample identifier internal to Genentech. The ID of this project in Genentech's ExpressionPlot database is PRJ0010699
2017-12-20 | GSE93179 | GEO
Project description:Familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) represents about 10% of ALS cases. In about 20% of familial ALS patients, a mutation in superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD1) can be found. The ubiquitous SOD1 protein converts superoxide radical anions to oxygen and hydrogen peroxide. Patients with familial ALS caused by mutations in SOD1 can show comorbidity with frontotemporal dementia and develop cognitive impairment, including apathy, inattention, verbal deficits, and hypersexuality. At the cellular level, pathological signs of ALS may include tau immunoreactive astrocytic and neuronal inclusions, suggesting that cognitive dysfunction in ALS may also reflect abnormal protein metabolism of the microtubule associated protein (MAP), tau. To identify cell-specific expression changes, we performed laser capture microdissection (LCM) to isolate anterior horn motor neurons and surrounding cells. To determine common pathways for the development of ALS due to dysfunction of SOD1 or TAU, we performed whole transcriptome analysis in SOD1 and TAU mouse models. Because ALS is a neurodegenerative disease that specifically affects motor neurons, these cells were the main investigative target. Global transcriptomes of glial cells surrounding the motor neurons were also assessed, because these cells have been implicated as triggers of neurodegeneration. Mouse experiments were performed at the presymptomatic stage, prior to the onset of cell loss, in order to reduce false positive signals due to tissue reactive changes. Lumbar anterior horn anterior horn motor neurons and surrounding cells (glia) were isolated from presymptomatic TAU-P301L and SOD1-G93A transgenic mice using laser capture microdissection (LCM; PixCell® IIe LCM System, Arcturus, Molecular Devices, CA). On average, 500 motor neuron bodies or surrounding glial cells from 20 tissue sections per animal were collected. RNA isolation from LCM collected cells was performed using the Qiagen RNeasy Micro Kit. Only RNA with RNA Integrity Numbers (RIN) above 7.5 were taken for further analysis (Agilent Bioanalyzer 2100). A two-round T7-based amplification and labeling protocol (Agilent Low RNA Input Linear Amplification Kit PLUS) was used to generate high quality labeled cRNA. Agilent Whole Mouse Genome Microarray comparisons of motor neurons and surrounding glia were performed between transgenic (SOD1G93A and TAUP301L) and corresponding nontransgenic (control) littermate animals, producing four independent comparison groups: SOD1G93A motor neurons versus control motor neurons (SOD1mn), SOD1G93A motor neuron surrounding glia versus control glia (SOD1gl), TAUP301L motor neurons versus control motor neurons (TAUmn) and TAUP301L glia versus control glia (TAUgl). Each comparison used four pairs of transgenic (SOD1G93A or TAUP301L) vs. corresponding control littermate animals, producing four biological replicates. Raw microarray data were acquired using the Agilent DNA Microarray scanner and processed with the accompanying Agilent Feature Extraction 10.5 Image Analysis software using default settings. Normalized signal intensities were used to identify gene expression changes in SOD1G93A and TAUP301L motor neurons and surrounding glial cells, generating four partially overlapping sets of data. For the identification of differential expression, the genes were required to pass two conservative criteria: a ratio beyond the 99.5% confidence interval observed in homotypic comparisons, which corresponded to an approximately 1.5-fold expression change, and a paired t-test (P<0.01) computed using 100 permutations of the data for each gene. Correction for multiple comparisons was performed using the adjusted Bonferroni test. The analysis was performed in the TM4: Microarray Software Suite. These techniques identified 251 transcripts representing 186 known genes for which expression was altered in at least one of the four comparisons. Four-condition experiment, SOD1G93A motor neurons versus control motor neurons (SODmn), SOD1G93A motor neuron surrounding glia versus control glia (SODgl), TAUP301L motor neurons versus control motor neurons (TAUmn) and TAUP301L glia versus control glia (TAUgl). Each comparison used four pairs of transgenic (SOD1G93A or TAUP301L) vs. corresponding control littermate animals, producing four biological replicates. Biological replicates: 4 SOD1G93A motor neurons (SODmn), 4 non SOD littermate motor neurons (nonSODmn), 4 SOD1G93A motor neuron surrounding glia (SODgl), 4 non SOD littermate motor neuron surrounding glia (nonSODgl), 4 TAUP301L motor neurons (TAUmn), 4 non TAU littermate motor neurons (nonTAUmn), 4 TAUP301L motor neuron surrounding glia (TAUgl), 4 non TAU littermate motor neuron surrounding glia (nonTAUgl). Four independent comparison groups were generated: SOD1G93A motor neurons versus control nonSOD motor neurons, SOD1G93A motor neuron surrounding glia versus control nonSOD glia, TAUP301L motor neurons versus control nonTAU motor neurons and TAUP301L glia versus control nonTAU glia. Each comparison used four pairs of transgenic (SOD1G93A or TAUP301L) vs. corresponding control littermate animals, producing four biological replicates. Each replicate was repeated twice with dye flip to correct for unequal dye incorporation rates. Therefore, eight microarray hybridizations were performed for each biological comparison, for a total of 32 microarray slides and generating four groups of differentially expressed genes in SOD1G93A motor neurons (SODmn), SOD1G93A motor neuron surrounding glial cells (SODgl), TAUP301L motor neurons (TAUmn), and TAUP301L surrounding glial cells (TAUgl).
2010-07-30 | E-GEOD-22482 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Tau transgenic mice are valuable models to investigate the role of tau protein in Alzheimer's disease and other tauopathies. However, motor dysfunction and dystonic posture interfering with behavioral testing are the most common undesirable effects of tau transgenic mice. Therefore, we have generated a novel mouse model (THY-Tau22) that expresses human 4-repeat tau mutated at sites G272V and P301S under a Thy1.2-promotor, displaying tau pathology in the absence of any motor dysfunction. THY-Tau22 shows hyperphosphorylation of tau on several Alzheimer's disease-relevant tau epitopes (AT8, AT100, AT180, AT270, 12E8, tau-pSer396, and AP422), neurofibrillary tangle-like inclusions (Gallyas and MC1-positive) with rare ghost tangles and PHF-like filaments, as well as mild astrogliosis. These mice also display deficits in hippocampal synaptic transmission and impaired behavior characterized by increased anxiety, delayed learning from 3 months, and reduced spatial memory at 10 months. There are no signs of motor deficits or changes in motor activity at any age investigated. This mouse model therefore displays the main features of tau pathology and several of the pathophysiological disturbances observed during neurofibrillary degeneration. This model will serve as an experimental tool in future studies to investigate mechanisms underlying cognitive deficits during pathogenic tau aggregation.
| S-EPMC1698785 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Understanding the biological functions of tau variants can illuminate differential etiologies of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and primary tauopathies. Though the end-stage neuropathological attributes of AD and primary tauopathies are similar, the etiology and behavioral outcomes of these diseases follow unique and divergent trajectories. To study the divergent physiological properties of tau variants on a uniform immunogenetic background, we created somatic transgenesis CNS models of tauopathy utilizing neonatal delivery of adeno-associated viruses expressing wild-type (WT) or mutant tau in non-transgenic mice. We selected four different tau variants-WT tau associated with AD, P301L mutant tau associated with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), S320F mutant tau associated with Pick's disease and a combinatorial approach using P301L/S320F mutant tau. CNS-targeted expression of WT and P301L mutant tau results in robust tau hyperphosphorylation without tangle pathology, gradually developing age-progressive memory deficits. In contrast, the S320F variant, especially in combination with P301L, produces an AD-type tangle pathology, focal neuroinflammation and memory impairment on an accelerated time scale. Using the doubly mutated P301L/S320F tau variant, we demonstrate that combining different mutations can have an additive effect on neuropathologies and associated co-morbidities, possibly hinting at involvement of unique functional pathways. Importantly, we also show that overexpression of wild-type tau as well as an FTD-associated tau variant can lead to cognitive deficits even in the absence of tangles. Together, our data highlights the synergistic neuropathologies and associated cognitive and synaptic alterations of the combinatorial tau variant leading to a robust model of tauopathy.
| S-EPMC6859436 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Hyperphosphorylation and the subsequent aggregation of tau protein into neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) are well-established neuropathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and associated tauopathies. To further examine the impact and progression of human tau pathology in neurodegenerative contexts, the humanized tau (htau) mouse model was originally created. Despite AD-like tau pathological features recapitulated in the htau mouse model, robustness of behavioral phenotypes has not been fully established. With the ultimate goal of evaluating the htau mouse model as a candidate for testing AD therapeutics, we set out to verify, in-house, the presence of robust, replicable cognitive deficits in the htau mice. The present study shows behavioral data collected from a carefully curated battery of learning and memory tests. Here we report a significant short-term spatial memory deficit in aged htau mice, representing a novel finding in this model. However, we did not find salient impairments in long-term learning and memory previously reported in this mouse model. Here, we attempted to understand the discrepancies in the literature by highlighting the necessity of scrutinizing key procedural differences across studies. Reported cognitive deficits in the htau model may depend on task difficulty and other procedural details. While the htau mouse remains a unique and valuable animal model for replicating late onset AD-like human tau pathology, its cognitive deficits are modest under standard testing conditions. The overarching message is that before using any AD mouse model to evaluate treatment efficacies, it is imperative to first characterize and verify the presence of behavioral deficits in-house.
| S-EPMC8175658 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disease marked by a progressive cognitive decline. Metabolic impairments are common hallmarks of AD, and amyloid-? (A?) peptide and hyperphosphorylated tau protein--the two foremost histopathological signs of AD--have been implicated in mitochondrial dysfunction. Neurosteroids have recently shown promise in alleviating cognitive and neuronal sequelae of AD. The present study evaluates the impact of neurosteroids belonging to the sex hormone family (progesterone, estradiol, estrone, testosterone, 3?-androstanediol) on mitochondrial dysfunction in cellular models of AD: human neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y) stably transfected with constructs encoding (1) the human amyloid precursor protein (APP) resulting in overexpression of APP and A?, (2) wild-type tau (wtTau), and (3) mutant tau (P301L), that induces abnormal tau hyperphosphorylation. We show that while APP and P301L cells both display a drop in ATP levels, they present distinct mitochondrial impairments with regard to their bioenergetic profiles. The P301L cells presented a decreased maximal respiration and spare respiratory capacity, while APP cells exhibited, in addition, a decrease in basal respiration, ATP turnover, and glycolytic reserve. All neurosteroids showed beneficial effects on ATP production and mitochondrial membrane potential in APP/A? overexpressing cells while only progesterone and estradiol increased ATP levels in mutant tau cells. Of note, testosterone was more efficient in alleviating A?-induced mitochondrial deficits, while progesterone and estrogen were the most effective neurosteroids in our model of AD-related tauopathy. Our findings lend further support to the neuroprotective effects of neurosteroids in AD and may open new avenues for the development of gender-specific therapeutic approaches in AD.
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