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Cisternas P, Zolezzi JM, Lindsay C, Rivera DS, Martinez A, Bozinovic F, Inestrosa NC. New Insights into the Spontaneous Human Alzheimer's Disease-Like Model Octodon degus: Unraveling Amyloid-β Peptide Aggregation and Age-Related Amyloid Pathology. J Alzheimers Dis 2019; 66:1145-1163. [PMID: 30412496 DOI: 10.3233/jad-180729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia worldwide. Despite advances in our understanding of the molecular milieu driving AD pathophysiology, no effective therapy is currently available. Moreover, various clinical trials have continued to fail, suggesting that our approach to AD must be revised. Accordingly, the development and validation of new models are highly desirable. Over the last decade, we have been working with Octodon degus (degu), a Chilean rodent, which spontaneously develops AD-like neuropathology, including increased amyloid-β (Aβ) aggregates, tau hyperphosphorylation, and postsynaptic dysfunction. However, for proper validation of degu as an AD model, the aggregation properties of its Aβ peptide must be analyzed. Thus, in this study, we examined the capacity of the degu Aβ peptide to aggregate in vitro. Then, we analyzed the age-dependent variation in soluble Aβ levels in the hippocampus and cortex of third- to fifth-generation captive-born degu. We also assessed the appearance and spatial distribution of amyloid plaques in O. degus and compared them with the plaques in two AD transgenic mouse models. In agreement with our previous studies, degu Aβ was able to aggregate, forming fibrillar species in vitro. Furthermore, amyloid plaques appeared in the anterior brain structures of O. degus at approximately 32 months of age and in the whole brain at 56 months, along with concomitant increases in Aβ levels and the Aβ42/Aβ40 ratio, indicating that O. degus spontaneously develops AD-like pathology earlier than other spontaneous models. Based on these results, we can confirm that O. degus constitutes a valuable model to improve AD research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedro Cisternas
- Centro de Envejecimiento y Regeneración (CARE), Departamento de Biología Celular y Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Juan M Zolezzi
- Centro de Envejecimiento y Regeneración (CARE), Departamento de Biología Celular y Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Carolina Lindsay
- Centro de Envejecimiento y Regeneración (CARE), Departamento de Biología Celular y Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Daniela S Rivera
- Centro de Envejecimiento y Regeneración (CARE), Departamento de Biología Celular y Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.,Centro de Ecología Aplicada y Sustentabilidad (CAPES), Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Alexis Martinez
- Centro de Envejecimiento y Regeneración (CARE), Departamento de Biología Celular y Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Francisco Bozinovic
- Centro de Ecología Aplicada y Sustentabilidad (CAPES), Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.,Centro UC-Síndrome de Down, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Nibaldo C Inestrosa
- Centro de Envejecimiento y Regeneración (CARE), Departamento de Biología Celular y Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.,Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, School of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.,Centro de Excelencia en Biomedicina de Magallanes (CEBIMA), Universidad de Magallanes, Punta Arenas, Chile
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Inestrosa NC, Ríos JA, Cisternas P, Tapia-Rojas C, Rivera DS, Braidy N, Zolezzi JM, Godoy JA, Carvajal FJ, Ardiles AO, Bozinovic F, Palacios AG, Sachdev PS. Age Progression of Neuropathological Markers in the Brain of the Chilean Rodent Octodon degus, a Natural Model of Alzheimer's Disease. Brain Pathol 2015; 25:679-91. [PMID: 25351914 DOI: 10.1111/bpa.12226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2014] [Accepted: 10/21/2014] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder and the leading cause of age-related dementia worldwide. Several models for AD have been developed to provide information regarding the initial changes that lead to degeneration. Transgenic mouse models recapitulate many, but not all, of the features of AD, most likely because of the high complexity of the pathology. In this context, the validation of a wild-type animal model of AD that mimics the neuropathological and behavioral abnormalities is necessary. In previous studies, we have reported that the Chilean rodent Octodon degus could represent a natural model for AD. In the present work, we further describe the age-related neurodegeneration observed in the O. degus brain. We report some histopathological markers associated with the onset progression of AD, such as glial activation, increase in oxidative stress markers, neuronal apoptosis and the expression of the peroxisome proliferative-activated receptor γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α). With these results, we suggest that the O. degus could represent a new model for AD research and a powerful tool in the search for therapeutic strategies against AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nibaldo C Inestrosa
- Centro de Envejecimiento y Regeneración (CARE), Departamento de Biología Celular y Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.,Centro UC Síndrome de Down, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.,Centro de Excelencia en Biomedicina de Magallanes (CEBIMA), Universidad de Magallanes, Punta Arenas, Chile.,Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, School of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Juvenal A Ríos
- Centro de Envejecimiento y Regeneración (CARE), Departamento de Biología Celular y Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Pedro Cisternas
- Centro de Envejecimiento y Regeneración (CARE), Departamento de Biología Celular y Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Cheril Tapia-Rojas
- Centro de Envejecimiento y Regeneración (CARE), Departamento de Biología Celular y Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Daniela S Rivera
- Departamento de Ecología and Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Nady Braidy
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, School of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Juan M Zolezzi
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, Chile
| | - Juan A Godoy
- Centro de Envejecimiento y Regeneración (CARE), Departamento de Biología Celular y Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Francisco J Carvajal
- Centro de Envejecimiento y Regeneración (CARE), Departamento de Biología Celular y Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Alvaro O Ardiles
- Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencia de Valparaíso, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile
| | - Francisco Bozinovic
- Centro UC Síndrome de Down, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.,Departamento de Ecología and Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Adrián G Palacios
- Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencia de Valparaíso, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile
| | - Perminder S Sachdev
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, School of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.,Neurosychiatric Institute, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia
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