Tau and transgenic animal models
- PMID: 11423157
- DOI: 10.1016/s0165-0173(01)00055-8
Tau and transgenic animal models
Abstract
Advances in genetics and transgenic approaches have a continuous impact on our understanding of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related disorders, especially as aspects of the histopathology and neurodegeneration can be reproduced in animal models. AD is characterized by extracellular Abeta peptide-containing plaques and neurofibrillary aggregates of hyperphosphorylated isoforms of microtubule-associated protein tau. A causal link between Abeta production, neurodegeneration and dementia has been established with the identification of familial forms of AD which are linked to mutations in the amyloid precursor protein APP, from which the Abeta peptide is derived by proteolysis. No mutations have been identified in the tau gene in AD until today. Tau filament formation, in the absence of Abeta production, is also a feature of several additional neurodegenerative diseases including progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration, Pick's disease, and frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17 (FTDP-17). The identification of mutations in the tau gene which are linked to FTDP-17 established that dysfunction of tau can, as well as Abeta formation, lead to neurodegeneration and dementia. In this review, newly recognized cellular functions of tau, and the neuropathology and clinical syndrome of FTDP-17 will be presented, as well as recent advances that have been achieved in studies of transgenic mice expressing tau and AD-related kinases and phosphatases. These models link neurofibrillary lesion formation to neuronal loss, provide an in vivo model in which therapies can be assessed, and may contribute to determine the relationship between Abeta production and tau pathology.
Similar articles
-
Stress kinases involved in tau phosphorylation in Alzheimer's disease, tauopathies and APP transgenic mice.Neurotox Res. 2004;6(6):469-75. doi: 10.1007/BF03033283. Neurotox Res. 2004. PMID: 15658002
-
Mutations causing neurodegenerative tauopathies.Biochim Biophys Acta. 2005 Jan 3;1739(2-3):240-50. doi: 10.1016/j.bbadis.2004.08.007. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2005. PMID: 15615642 Review.
-
Tau Interacting Proteins: Gaining Insight into the Roles of Tau in Health and Disease.Adv Exp Med Biol. 2019;1184:145-166. doi: 10.1007/978-981-32-9358-8_13. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2019. PMID: 32096036 Review.
-
Transgenic zebrafish model of neurodegeneration.J Neurosci Res. 2002 Dec 15;70(6):734-45. doi: 10.1002/jnr.10451. J Neurosci Res. 2002. PMID: 12444595
-
Tau mutations in frontotemporal dementia FTDP-17 and their relevance for Alzheimer's disease.Biochim Biophys Acta. 2000 Jul 26;1502(1):110-21. doi: 10.1016/s0925-4439(00)00037-5. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2000. PMID: 10899436 Review.
Cited by
-
ENU mutagenesis screen to establish motor phenotypes in wild-type mice and modifiers of a pre-existing motor phenotype in tau mutant mice.J Biomed Biotechnol. 2011;2011:130947. doi: 10.1155/2011/130947. Epub 2011 Dec 15. J Biomed Biotechnol. 2011. PMID: 22219655 Free PMC article. Review.
-
The cytoskeleton in neurodegenerative diseases.J Pathol. 2004 Nov;204(4):438-49. doi: 10.1002/path.1650. J Pathol. 2004. PMID: 15495240 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Role for glyoxalase I in Alzheimer's disease.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004 May 18;101(20):7687-92. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0402338101. Epub 2004 May 5. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004. PMID: 15128939 Free PMC article.
-
A decade of tau transgenic animal models and beyond.Brain Pathol. 2007 Jan;17(1):91-103. doi: 10.1111/j.1750-3639.2007.00051.x. Brain Pathol. 2007. PMID: 17493043 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Plasticity and the spread of Alzheimer's disease-like changes.Neurochem Res. 2003 Nov;28(11):1715-23. doi: 10.1023/a:1026017206925. Neurochem Res. 2003. PMID: 14584825 Review.
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
Medical