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Emmerson JT, Malcolm JC, Do Carmo S, Nguyen P, Breuillaud L, Martinez-Trujillo JC, Cuello AC. Neuronal loss and inflammation preceding fibrillary tau pathology in a rat model with early human-like tauopathy. Neurobiol Dis 2023; 187:106317. [PMID: 37802153 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2023.106317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2023] [Revised: 09/26/2023] [Accepted: 10/03/2023] [Indexed: 10/08/2023] Open
Abstract
In tauopathies such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), the microtubule associated protein tau undergoes conformational and posttranslational modifications in a gradual, staged pathological process. While brain atrophy and cognitive decline are well-established in the advanced stages of tauopathy, it is unclear how the early pathological processes manifest prior to extensive neurodegeneration. For these studies we have applied a transgenic rat model of human-like tauopathy in its heterozygous form, named McGill-R955-hTau. The goal of the present study was to investigate whether lifelong accumulation of mutated human tau could reveal the earliest tau pathological processes in a context of advanced aging, and, at stages before the overt aggregated or fibrillary tau deposition. We characterized the phenotype of heterozygous R955-hTau rats at three endpoints, 10, 18 and 24-26 months of age, focusing on markers of cognitive capabilities, progressive tau pathology, neuronal health, neuroinflammation and brain ultrastructural integrity, using immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy. Heterozygous R955-hTau transgenic rats feature a modest, life-long accumulation of mutated human tau that led to tau hyperphosphorylation and produced deficits in learning and memory tasks after 24 months of age. Such impairments coincided with more extensive tau hyperphosphorylation in the brain at residues pThr231 and with evidence of oligomerization. Importantly, aged R955-hTau rats presented evidence of neuroinflammation, detriments to myelin morphology and detectable hippocampal neuronal loss in the absence of overt neurofibrillary lesions and brain atrophy. The slow-progressing tauopathy of R955-hTau rats should allow to better delineate the temporal progression of tau pathological events and therefore to distinguish early indicators of tauopathy as having the capability to induce degenerative events in the aged CNS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua T Emmerson
- Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, McGill University, Montreal H3G 1Y6, Canada
| | - Janice C Malcolm
- Department of Cell Anatomy and Cell Biology, McGill University, Montreal H3A 0C7, Canada
| | - Sonia Do Carmo
- Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, McGill University, Montreal H3G 1Y6, Canada
| | - Phuoc Nguyen
- Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, McGill University, Montreal H3G 1Y6, Canada
| | - Lionel Breuillaud
- Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, McGill University, Montreal H3G 1Y6, Canada
| | - Julio C Martinez-Trujillo
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Robarts Research Institute and Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, ON N6A 5B7, Canada; Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada
| | - A Claudio Cuello
- Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, McGill University, Montreal H3G 1Y6, Canada; Department of Cell Anatomy and Cell Biology, McGill University, Montreal H3A 0C7, Canada; Visiting Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Oxford University, Oxford, UK, OX1 3QT.
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Képes Z, Barkóczi A, Szabó JP, Kálmán-Szabó I, Arató V, Jószai I, Deák Á, Kertész I, Hajdu I, Trencsényi G. In Vivo Preclinical Assessment of β-Amyloid-Affine [ 11C]C-PIB Accumulation in Aluminium-Induced Alzheimer's Disease-Resembling Hypercholesterinaemic Rat Model. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms232213950. [PMID: 36430429 PMCID: PMC9695619 DOI: 10.3390/ijms232213950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2022] [Revised: 11/09/2022] [Accepted: 11/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Aluminum (Al) excess and hypercholesterinaemia are established risks of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The aim of this study was to establish an AD-resembling hypercholesterinaemic animal model-with the involvement of 8 week and 48 week-old Fischer-344 rats-by Al administration for the safe and rapid verification of β-amyloid-targeted positron emission tomography (PET) radiopharmaceuticals. Measurement of lipid parameters and β-amyloid-affine [11C]C-Pittsburgh Compound B ([11C]C-PIB) PET examinations were performed. Compared with the control, the significantly elevated cholesterol and LDL levels of the rats receiving the cholesterol-rich diet support the development of hypercholesterinaemia (p ≤ 0.01). In the older cohort, a notably increased age-related radiopharmaceutical accumulation was registered compared to in the young (p ≤ 0.05; p ≤ 0.01). A monotherapy-induced slight elevation of mean standardised uptake values (SUVmean) was statistically not significant; however, adult rats administered a combined diet expressed remarkable SUVmean increment compared to the adult control (SUVmean: from 0.78 ± 0.16 to 1.99 ± 0.28). One and two months after restoration to normal diet, the cerebral [11C]C-PIB accumulation of AD-mimicking animals decreased by half and a third, respectively, to the baseline value. The proposed in vivo Al-induced AD-resembling animal system seems to be adequate for the understanding of AD neuropathology and future drug testing and radiopharmaceutical development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zita Képes
- Division of Nuclear Medicine and Translational Imaging, Department of Medical Imaging, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei St. 98, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
- Correspondence:
| | - Alexandra Barkóczi
- Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei St. 98, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
- Doctoral School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei St. 98, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Judit P. Szabó
- Division of Nuclear Medicine and Translational Imaging, Department of Medical Imaging, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei St. 98, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
- Doctoral School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei St. 98, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Ibolya Kálmán-Szabó
- Division of Nuclear Medicine and Translational Imaging, Department of Medical Imaging, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei St. 98, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
- Gyula Petrányi Doctoral School of Clinical Immunology and Allergology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei St. 98, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Viktória Arató
- Division of Nuclear Medicine and Translational Imaging, Department of Medical Imaging, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei St. 98, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
| | - István Jószai
- Division of Nuclear Medicine and Translational Imaging, Department of Medical Imaging, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei St. 98, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Ádám Deák
- Doctoral School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei St. 98, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
- Department of Operative Techniques and Surgical Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei St. 98, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
| | - István Kertész
- Division of Nuclear Medicine and Translational Imaging, Department of Medical Imaging, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei St. 98, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
| | - István Hajdu
- Division of Nuclear Medicine and Translational Imaging, Department of Medical Imaging, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei St. 98, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
| | - György Trencsényi
- Division of Nuclear Medicine and Translational Imaging, Department of Medical Imaging, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei St. 98, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
- Doctoral School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei St. 98, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
- Gyula Petrányi Doctoral School of Clinical Immunology and Allergology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Nagyerdei St. 98, H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary
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Jiang XJ, Wu YQ, Ma R, Chang YM, Li LL, Zhu JH, Liu GP, Li G. PINK1 Alleviates Cognitive Impairments via Attenuating Pathological Tau Aggregation in a Mouse Model of Tauopathy. Front Cell Dev Biol 2022; 9:736267. [PMID: 35059394 PMCID: PMC8763800 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2021.736267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2021] [Accepted: 11/25/2021] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
As a primary cause of dementia and death in older people, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has become a common problem and challenge worldwide. Abnormal accumulation of tau proteins in the brain is a hallmark pathology of AD and is closely related to the clinical progression and severity of cognitive deficits. Here, we found that overexpression of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN)-induced kinase 1 (PINK1) effectively promoted the degradation of tau, thereby rescuing neuron loss, synaptic damage, and cognitive impairments in a mouse model of tauopathy with AAV-full-length human Tau (hTau) injected into the hippocampal CA1 area (hTau mice). Overexpression of PINK1 activated autophagy, and chloroquine but not MG132 reversed the PINK1-induced decrease in human Tau levels and cognitive improvement in hTau mice. Furthermore, PINK1 also ameliorated mitochondrial dysfunction induced by hTau. Taken together, our data revealed that PINK1 overexpression promoted degradation of abnormal accumulated tau via the autophagy–lysosome pathway, indicating that PINK1 may be a potential target for AD treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xing Jun Jiang
- Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Yan Qing Wu
- Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Rong Ma
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Yan Min Chang
- Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Lu Lu Li
- Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Jia Hui Zhu
- Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Gong Ping Liu
- Department of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medicine and the Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science, Key Laboratory of Ministry of Education of China and Hubei Province for Neurological Disorders, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.,Co-Innovation Center of Neuroregeneration, Nantong University, Nantong, China
| | - Gang Li
- Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
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Filip T, Mairinger S, Neddens J, Sauberer M, Flunkert S, Stanek J, Wanek T, Okamura N, Langer O, Hutter-Paier B, Kuntner C. Characterization of an APP/tau rat model of Alzheimer's disease by positron emission tomography and immunofluorescent labeling. Alzheimers Res Ther 2021; 13:175. [PMID: 34656177 PMCID: PMC8522096 DOI: 10.1186/s13195-021-00916-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2021] [Accepted: 10/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND To better understand the etiology and pathomechanisms of Alzheimer's disease, several transgenic animal models that overexpress human tau or human amyloid-beta (Aβ) have been developed. In the present study, we generated a novel transgenic rat model by cross-breeding amyloid precursor protein (APP) rats with tau rats. We characterized this model by performing positron emission tomography scans combined with immunofluorescent labeling and cerebrospinal fluid analyses. METHODS APP/Tau rats were generated by cross-breeding male McGill-R-Thy1-APP transgenic rats with female hTau-40/P301L transgenic rats. APP/Tau double transgenic rats and non-transgenic (ntg) littermates aged 7, 13, and 21 months were subjected to dynamic [11C] PiB scan and dynamic [18F]THK-5317 scans. For regional brain analysis, a template was generated from anatomical MR images of selected animals, which was co-registered with the PET images. Regional analysis was performed by application of the simplified reference tissue model ([11C]PiB data), whereas [18F]THK-5317 data were analyzed using a 2-tissue compartment model and Logan graphical analysis. In addition, immunofluorescent labeling (tau, amyloid) and cerebrospinal fluid analyses were performed. RESULTS [11C]PiB binding potential (BPND) and [18F]THK-5317 volume of distribution (VT) showed an increase with age in several brain regions in the APP/Tau group but not in the ntg control group. Immunohistochemical analysis of brain slices of PET-scanned animals revealed a positive correlation between Aβ labeling and [11C]PiB regional BPND. Tau staining yielded a trend towards higher levels in the cortex and hippocampus of APP/Tau rats compared with ntg littermates, but without reaching statistical significance. No correlation was found between tau immunofluorescence labeling results and the respective [18F]THK-5317 VT values. CONCLUSIONS We thoroughly characterized a novel APP/Tau rat model using combined PET imaging and immunofluorescence analysis. We observed an age-related increase in [11C]PiB and [18F]THK-5317 binding in several brain regions in the APP/Tau group but not in the ntg group. Although we were able to reveal a positive correlation between amyloid labeling and [11C]PiB regional brain uptake, we observed relatively low human tau and amyloid fibril expression levels and a somewhat unstable brain pathology which questions the utility of this animal model for further studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Filip
- Preclinical Molecular Imaging, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, 2444, Seibersdorf, Austria
- Department of Biomedical Research, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Severin Mairinger
- Preclinical Molecular Imaging, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, 2444, Seibersdorf, Austria
- Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Joerg Neddens
- Neuropharmacology, QPS Austria GmbH, Grambach, Austria
| | - Michael Sauberer
- Preclinical Molecular Imaging, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, 2444, Seibersdorf, Austria
- Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | | | - Johann Stanek
- Preclinical Molecular Imaging, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, 2444, Seibersdorf, Austria
- Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Thomas Wanek
- Preclinical Molecular Imaging, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, 2444, Seibersdorf, Austria
- Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Nobuyuki Okamura
- Division of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Sendai, Japan
| | - Oliver Langer
- Preclinical Molecular Imaging, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, 2444, Seibersdorf, Austria
- Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | | | - Claudia Kuntner
- Preclinical Molecular Imaging, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, 2444, Seibersdorf, Austria.
- Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
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Biophysical studies of protein misfolding and aggregation in in vivo models of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Q Rev Biophys 2020; 49:e22. [PMID: 32493529 DOI: 10.1017/s0033583520000025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's (AD) and Parkinson's diseases (PD), are characterised by the formation of aberrant assemblies of misfolded proteins. The discovery of disease-modifying drugs for these disorders is challenging, in part because we still have a limited understanding of their molecular origins. In this review, we discuss how biophysical approaches can help explain the formation of the aberrant conformational states of proteins whose neurotoxic effects underlie these diseases. We discuss in particular models based on the transgenic expression of amyloid-β (Aβ) and tau in AD, and α-synuclein in PD. Because biophysical methods have enabled an accurate quantification and a detailed understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying protein misfolding and aggregation in vitro, we expect that the further development of these methods to probe directly the corresponding mechanisms in vivo will open effective routes for diagnostic and therapeutic interventions.
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Plasma pharmacokinetic and metabolism of [ 18F]THK-5317 are dependent on sex. Nucl Med Biol 2020; 84-85:28-32. [PMID: 31981857 DOI: 10.1016/j.nucmedbio.2020.01.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2019] [Revised: 01/08/2020] [Accepted: 01/12/2020] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Tau deposition is one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and can be visualized and quantified using [18F]THK-5317 together with kinetic modeling. To determine the feasibility of this approach, we measured blood/plasma pharmacokinetics and radiotracer metabolism in female and male rats. METHODS Female and male rats (n = 11-12) were cannulated via the femoral artery for continuous blood sampling. Blood sampling was performed at regular intervals after intravenous injection of [18F]THK-5317. After collection of the last blood sample, animals were sacrificed, and organs were excised. Blood from minute 5, 20 and 60 was centrifuged to obtain plasma. Radiolabeled metabolites in plasma, brain, liver and urine were analyzed by radio-thin-layer chromatography (radio-TLC). RESULTS Plasma pharmacokinetics and metabolism were significantly different between female and male rats. [18F]THK-5317 plasma clearance was faster in female (0.66 ± 0.08 mL/h/kg BW) than in male (0.52 ± 0.11 mL/h/kg BW) rats (p = .005). The percentage of unmetabolized parent was significantly different between both sexes at 20 min and 60 min p.i. In the liver, a 1.6-fold higher radioactivity concentration was found in male versus female animals and in addition also the percentage of unmetabolized parent was different. CONCLUSION Our results show pronounced sex differences in blood/plasma pharmacokinetics and metabolism of [18F]THK-5317 in rats. Female animals showed a faster plasma clearance compared to males. These results underline the importance of investigating both sexes and also support the notion that individual input functions or sex-specific population-based input functions are needed for kinetic modeling analyses. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE First preclinical study in rats showing pronounced sex differences in blood/plasma pharmacokinetics and metabolism of [18F]THK-5317. IMPLICATIONS FOR PATIENT CARE Sex-specific differences might also be present in humans and thus clinical trials should have adequate sample size to account for effects in men and women separately.
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Malcolm JC, Breuillaud L, Do Carmo S, Hall H, Welikovitch LA, Macdonald JA, Goedert M, Cuello AC. Neuropathological changes and cognitive deficits in rats transgenic for human mutant tau recapitulate human tauopathy. Neurobiol Dis 2019; 127:323-338. [PMID: 30905766 PMCID: PMC6597947 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2019.03.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2019] [Revised: 03/08/2019] [Accepted: 03/20/2019] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The assembly of tau protein into abnormal filaments and brain cell degeneration are characteristic of a number of human neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia and parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17. Several murine models have been generated to better understand the mechanisms contributing to tau assembly and neurodegeneration. Taking advantage of the more elaborate central nervous system and higher cognitive abilities of the rat, we generated a model expressing the longest human tau isoform (2N4R) with the P301S mutation. This transgenic rat line, R962-hTau, exhibits the main features of human tauopathies, such as: age-dependent increase in inclusions comprised of aggregated-tau, neuronal loss, global neurodegeneration as reflected by brain atrophy and ventricular dilation, alterations in astrocytic and microglial morphology, and myelin loss. In addition, substantial deficits across multiple memory and learning paradigms, including novel object recognition, fear conditioning and Morris water maze tasks, were observed at the time of advanced tauopathy. These results support the concept that progressive tauopathy correlates with brain atrophy and cognitive impairment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janice C Malcolm
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 0C7, Canada
| | - Lionel Breuillaud
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3G 1Y6, Canada
| | - Sonia Do Carmo
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3G 1Y6, Canada
| | - Hélène Hall
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3G 1Y6, Canada
| | - Lindsay A Welikovitch
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada
| | | | - Michel Goedert
- Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK
| | - A Claudio Cuello
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 0C7, Canada; Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3G 1Y6, Canada; Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montréal, QC H3A 2B4, Canada.
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Smolek T, Jadhav S, Brezovakova V, Cubinkova V, Valachova B, Novak P, Zilka N. First-in-Rat Study of Human Alzheimer's Disease Tau Propagation. Mol Neurobiol 2018; 56:621-631. [PMID: 29770957 DOI: 10.1007/s12035-018-1102-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2017] [Accepted: 05/01/2018] [Indexed: 10/16/2022]
Abstract
One of the key features of misfolded tau in human neurodegenerative disorders is its propagation from one brain area into many others. In the last decade, in vivo tau spreading has been replicated in several mouse transgenic models expressing mutated human tau as well as in normal non-transgenic mice. In this study, we demonstrate for the first time that insoluble tau isolated from human AD brain induces full-blown neurofibrillary pathology in a sporadic rat model of tauopathy expressing non-mutated truncated tau protein. By using specific monoclonal antibodies, we were able to monitor the spreading of tau isolated from human brain directly in the rat hippocampus. We found that exogenous human AD tau was able to spread from the area of injection and induce tau pathology. Interestingly, solubilisation of insoluble AD tau completely abolished the capability of tau protein to induce and spread of neurofibrillary pathology in the rat brain. Our results show that exogenous tau is able to induce and drive neurofibrillary pathology in rat model for human tauopathy in a similar way as it was described in various mouse transgenic models. Rat tau spreading model has many advantages over mouse and other organisms including size and complexity, and thus is highly suitable for identification of pathogenic mechanism of tau spreading.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomas Smolek
- Institute of Neuroimmunology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Centre of Excellence for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders, Dubravska 9, 845 10, Bratislava, Slovak Republic.,Axon Neuroscience R&D Services SE, Dvořákovo nábrežie 10, Bratislava, Slovak Republic
| | - Santosh Jadhav
- Institute of Neuroimmunology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Centre of Excellence for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders, Dubravska 9, 845 10, Bratislava, Slovak Republic.,Axon Neuroscience R&D Services SE, Dvořákovo nábrežie 10, Bratislava, Slovak Republic
| | - Veronika Brezovakova
- Institute of Neuroimmunology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Centre of Excellence for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders, Dubravska 9, 845 10, Bratislava, Slovak Republic
| | - Veronika Cubinkova
- Institute of Neuroimmunology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Centre of Excellence for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders, Dubravska 9, 845 10, Bratislava, Slovak Republic.,Axon Neuroscience R&D Services SE, Dvořákovo nábrežie 10, Bratislava, Slovak Republic
| | - Bernadeta Valachova
- Institute of Neuroimmunology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Centre of Excellence for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders, Dubravska 9, 845 10, Bratislava, Slovak Republic
| | - Petr Novak
- Institute of Neuroimmunology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Centre of Excellence for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders, Dubravska 9, 845 10, Bratislava, Slovak Republic.,Axon Neuroscience CRM Services SE, Dvořákovo nábrežie 10, Bratislava, Slovak Republic
| | - Norbert Zilka
- Institute of Neuroimmunology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Centre of Excellence for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders, Dubravska 9, 845 10, Bratislava, Slovak Republic. .,Axon Neuroscience R&D Services SE, Dvořákovo nábrežie 10, Bratislava, Slovak Republic.
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Filipcik P, Cente M, Zilka N, Smolek T, Hanes J, Kucerak J, Opattova A, Kovacech B, Novak M. Intraneuronal accumulation of misfolded tau protein induces overexpression of Hsp27 in activated astrocytes. Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Basis Dis 2015; 1852:1219-29. [PMID: 25772164 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbadis.2015.03.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2015] [Revised: 02/13/2015] [Accepted: 03/06/2015] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Accumulation of misfolded forms of microtubule associated, neuronal protein tau causes neurofibrillary degeneration typical of Alzheimer's disease and other tauopathies. This process is accompanied by elevated cellular stress and concomitant deregulation of heat-shock proteins. We used a transgenic rat model of tauopathy to study involvement of heat shock protein 27 (Hsp27) in the process of neurofibrillary degeneration, its cell type specific expression and correlation with the amount of insoluble tau protein aggregates. The expression of Hsp27-mRNA is more than doubled and levels of Hsp27 protein tripled in aged transgenic animals with tau pathology. The data revealed a strong positive and highly significant correlation between Hsp27-mRNA and amount of sarkosyl insoluble tau. Interestingly, intracellular accumulation of insoluble misfolded tau protein in neurons was associated with overexpression of Hsp27 almost exclusively in reactive astrocytes, not in neurons. The topological dissociation of neuronally expressed pathological tau and the induction of astrocytic Hsp27, GFAP, and Vimentin along with up-regulation of microglia specific markers such as CD18, CD68 and C3 point to cooperation of astrocytes, microglia and neurons in response to intra-neuronal accumulation of insoluble tau. Our data suggest that over expression of Hsp27 represents a part of microglia-mediated astrocytic response mechanism in the process of neurofibrillary degeneration, which is not necessarily associated with neuroprotection and which in contrary may accelerate neurodegeneration in late stage of the disease. This phenomenon should be considered during development of disease modifying strategies for treatment of tauopathies and AD via regulation of activity of Hsp27.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Filipcik
- Institute of Neuroimmunology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska cesta 9, 84510 Bratislava, Slovakia; Axon Neuroscience SE, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Martin Cente
- Institute of Neuroimmunology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska cesta 9, 84510 Bratislava, Slovakia; Axon Neuroscience SE, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Norbert Zilka
- Institute of Neuroimmunology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska cesta 9, 84510 Bratislava, Slovakia; Axon Neuroscience SE, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Tomas Smolek
- Institute of Neuroimmunology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska cesta 9, 84510 Bratislava, Slovakia; Axon Neuroscience SE, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | | | - Juraj Kucerak
- Institute of Neuroimmunology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska cesta 9, 84510 Bratislava, Slovakia; Axon Neuroscience SE, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Alena Opattova
- Institute of Neuroimmunology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska cesta 9, 84510 Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Branislav Kovacech
- Institute of Neuroimmunology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska cesta 9, 84510 Bratislava, Slovakia; Axon Neuroscience SE, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Michal Novak
- Institute of Neuroimmunology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska cesta 9, 84510 Bratislava, Slovakia; Axon Neuroscience SE, Bratislava, Slovakia.
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Dujardin S, Colin M, Buée L. Invited review: Animal models of tauopathies and their implications for research/translation into the clinic. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol 2015; 41:59-80. [DOI: 10.1111/nan.12200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2014] [Accepted: 11/23/2014] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Simon Dujardin
- Inserm, UMR1172 Jean-Pierre Aubert Research Centre; Lille France
- Faculté de Médecine; Université de Lille; France
- Memory Clinic; CHRU; Lille France
| | - Morvane Colin
- Inserm, UMR1172 Jean-Pierre Aubert Research Centre; Lille France
- Faculté de Médecine; Université de Lille; France
- Memory Clinic; CHRU; Lille France
| | - Luc Buée
- Inserm, UMR1172 Jean-Pierre Aubert Research Centre; Lille France
- Faculté de Médecine; Université de Lille; France
- Memory Clinic; CHRU; Lille France
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Oksman M, Wisman LA, Jiang H, Miettinen P, Kirik D, Tanila H. Transduced wild-type but not P301S mutated human tau shows hyperphosphorylation in transgenic mice overexpressing A30P mutated human alpha-synuclein. NEURODEGENER DIS 2012; 12:91-102. [PMID: 22948283 DOI: 10.1159/000341596] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2011] [Accepted: 07/07/2012] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Neuropathological and cell culture studies suggest that tau and α-synuclein pathologies may promote each other. To study the relevance and functional implications of these findings in vivo, we transduced hippocampal neurons of wild-type or human A30P α-synuclein transgenic mice with wild-type or P301S mutated human tau using an adeno-associated virus vector. Green fluorescent protein transduction was used as a control. We assessed spontaneous exploratory activity, anxiety and spatial learning and memory 11 weeks after the transduction and perfused the mice for histology. The transduced tau was mainly found in axon terminals and largely restricted within the hippocampi. In addition, neurons around the injection site showed cytoplasmic staining for human tau in both wild-type and A30P mice. Of these tau-positive neurons, 44% in A30P mice but only 3% in wild-type mice receiving human wild-type tau transduction formed paired helical filament-1 (PHF-1)-positive cytoplasmic densities. In contrast, only 1% of tau-positive neurons were also PHF-1 positive after transduction with P301S tau in mice of either genotype. Transduction of P301S tau reduced swimming speed but otherwise tau transduction had no significant behavioral consequences. Cytoplasmic PHF-1 densities were associated with poor spatial memory in wild-type mice but slightly improved memory in A30P mice, indicating that also tau hyperphosphorylation does not necessarily compromise neural functions. These data demonstrate that α-synuclein promotes tau hyperphosphorylation depending on the amino acids on the 301 site.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Oksman
- AI Virtanen Institute, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland
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Mustroph M, King M, Klein R, Ramirez J. Adult-onset focal expression of mutated human tau in the hippocampus impairs spatial working memory of rats. Behav Brain Res 2012; 233:141-8. [PMID: 22561128 PMCID: PMC3378764 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2012.04.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2012] [Revised: 04/17/2012] [Accepted: 04/20/2012] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Tauopathy in the hippocampus is one of the earliest cardinal features of Alzheimer's disease (AD), a condition characterized by progressive memory impairments. In fact, density of tau neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) in the hippocampus strongly correlates with severity of cognitive impairments in AD. In the present study, we employed a somatic cell gene transfer technique to create a rodent model of tauopathy by injecting a recombinant adeno-associated viral vector with a mutated human tau gene (P301L) into the hippocampus of adult rats. The P301L mutation is causal for frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism-17 (FTDP-17), but it has been used for studying memory effects characteristic of AD in transgenic mice. To ascertain if P301L-induced mnemonic deficits are persistent, animals were tested for 6 months. It was hypothesized that adult-onset, spatially restricted tau expression in the hippocampus would produce progressive spatial working memory deficits on a learned alternation task. Rats injected with the tau vector exhibited persistent impairments on the hippocampal-dependent task beginning at about 6 weeks post-transduction compared to rats injected with a green fluorescent protein vector. Histological analysis of brains for expression of human tau revealed hyperphosphorylated human tau and NFTs in the hippocampus in experimental animals only. Thus, adult-onset, vector-induced tauopathy spatially restricted to the hippocampus progressively impaired spatial working memory in rats. We conclude that the model faithfully reproduces histological and behavioral findings characteristic of dementing tauopathies. The rapid onset of sustained memory impairment establishes a preclinical model particularly suited to the development of potential tauopathy therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- M.L. Mustroph
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, Davidson College, Davidson, NC, USA
| | - M.A. King
- Pharmacology & Therapeutics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
- Malcom Randall VA Medical Center, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - R.L. Klein
- Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Neuroscience, LSUHSC, Shreveport, LA, USA
| | - J.J. Ramirez
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience Program, Davidson College, Davidson, NC, USA
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Strandberg TE, Sipilä S. Biogerontology in Finland. Biogerontology 2010; 12:71-5. [PMID: 21161378 DOI: 10.1007/s10522-010-9313-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2010] [Accepted: 11/29/2010] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
This paper describes current biogerontology research in Finland especially in the universities with professorships in gerontology/geriatrics. If biogerontology is broadly taken to include all research in basic mechanisms of normal ageing as well as age-related diseases, the most prevalent current topics include basic research in genetics, mitochondrial function, musculoskeletal physiology, neurodegenerative and vascular diseases. The research activity of each institute and their international collaboration is briefly described with examples focused on recent publications in the field of biogerontology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timo E Strandberg
- Institute of Health Sciences/Geriatrics, Oulu University Hospital, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.
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