Repetitive mild traumatic brain injury augments tau pathology and glial activation in aged hTau mice

J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 2013 Feb;72(2):137-51. doi: 10.1097/NEN.0b013e3182814cdf.

Abstract

Extensive tau-immunoreactive neurons and glial cells associated with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) have been documented in the brains of some professional athletes and others with a history of repetitive mild traumatic brain injury (r-mTBI). The neuropathology and tau involvement in mTBI have not been extensively studied in animal models, particularly in aged animals. We investigated the effects of single mTBI (s-mTBI) and r-mTBI in 18-month-old hTau mice, which express wild-type human tau isoforms on a null murine tau background (n = 3-5 per group). At this age, hTau mice already demonstrate tau pathology, but there was a significant increase in phospho-tau immunoreactivity in response to r-mTBI, but not to s-mTBI,as determined using multiple phospho-tau-specific antibodies. Repetitive mTBI also resulted in a marked increase in astrocyte/microglia activation notably in the superficial layer of the motor/somatosensory cortex and the corpus callosum. We did not observe the perivascular tau pathology, neuritic threads, or astrocytic tangles that are commonly found in human CTE. The increase in phospho-tau in the r-mTBI mice suggests that this may be a useful model for investigating further the link between mTBI, particularly r-mTBI, and tau pathobiology in CTE and in understanding responses of the aged brain to mTBI.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Age Factors
  • Animals
  • Apoptosis / genetics
  • Apoptosis / physiology
  • Brain Injuries / complications*
  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Epitopes / metabolism
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / metabolism
  • Humans
  • In Situ Nick-End Labeling
  • Leukocyte Common Antigens / metabolism
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins
  • Neuroglia / metabolism*
  • Neurons / metabolism
  • Neurons / pathology
  • Polycomb-Group Proteins
  • Tauopathies* / complications
  • Tauopathies* / genetics
  • Tauopathies* / pathology
  • Transcription Factors / metabolism
  • tau Proteins / genetics
  • tau Proteins / metabolism

Substances

  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • Epitopes
  • F3 epitope
  • Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein
  • MAPT protein, human
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins
  • Phf1 protein, mouse
  • Polycomb-Group Proteins
  • Transcription Factors
  • tau Proteins
  • Leukocyte Common Antigens