Abstract
It is generally accepted that human Alzheimer's disease (AD) neuropathology markers are completely absent in rodent brains. We report here that an aged wild-type South American rodent, Octodon degu, expresses neuronal beta-amyloid precursor protein (beta-APP695) displaying both intracellular and extracellular deposits of amyloid-beta-peptide (Abeta), intracellular accumulations of tau-protein and ubiquitin, a strong astrocytic response and acetylcholinesterase (AChE)-rich pyramidal neurons. The high amino acid homology (97.5%) between deguAbeta and humanAbeta sequences is probably a major factor in the appearance of AD markers in this aged rodent. Our results indicate that aged O. degu constitutes the first wild-type rodent model for neurodegenerative processes associated to AD.
Publication types
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Comparative Study
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Acetylcholinesterase / metabolism
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Aging / physiology*
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Alzheimer Disease / metabolism*
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Alzheimer Disease / pathology
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Amino Acid Sequence
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Amyloid beta-Peptides / genetics
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Amyloid beta-Peptides / metabolism*
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Animals
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Astrocytes / metabolism
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Blotting, Northern / methods
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Brain / cytology
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Brain / metabolism
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Disease Models, Animal
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Gene Expression Regulation / physiology
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Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / metabolism
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Humans
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Immunohistochemistry / methods
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Neurons / metabolism
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Octodon / metabolism*
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RNA, Messenger / biosynthesis
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Rats
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Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / methods
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Ubiquitin / metabolism
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tau Proteins / metabolism
Substances
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Amyloid beta-Peptides
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Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein
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RNA, Messenger
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Ubiquitin
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tau Proteins
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Acetylcholinesterase