Spatiotemporal development of the neuronal accumulation of amyloid precursor protein and the amyloid plaque formation in the brain of 3xTg-AD mice

Abstract

The amyloid plaque is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. The accumulation of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) in the neuronal structure is assumed to lead to amyloid plaque formation through the excessive production of β-amyloid protein. To study the relationship between the neuronal accumulation of APP and amyloid plaque formation, we histologically analyzed their development in the different brain regions in 3xTg-AD mice, which express Swedish mutated APP (APP_SWE) in the neurons. Observation throughout the brain revealed APP_SWE-positive somata in the broad regions. Quantitative model analysis showed that the somatic accumulation of APP_SWE developed firstly in the hippocampus from a very early age (<1 month) and proceeded slower in the isocortex. In line with this, the hippocampus was the first region to form amyloid plaques at the age of 9-12 months, while amyloid plaques were rarely observed in the isocortex. Females had more APP_SWE-positive somata and plaques than males. Furthermore, amyloid plaques were observed in the lateral septum and pontine grey, which did not contain APP_SWE-positive somata but only the APP_SWE-positive fibers. These results suggested that neuronal accumulation of APP_SWE, both in somatodendritic and axonal domains, is closely related to the formation of amyloid plaques.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; Amyloid precursor protein; Immunohistochemistry; Transgenic animal; β-amyloid.