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Collins HM, Greenfield S. Rodent Models of Alzheimer's Disease: Past Misconceptions and Future Prospects. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:6222. [PMID: 38892408 PMCID: PMC11172947 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25116222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2024] [Revised: 05/28/2024] [Accepted: 06/03/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease with no effective treatments, not least due to the lack of authentic animal models. Typically, rodent models recapitulate the effects but not causes of AD, such as cholinergic neuron loss: lesioning of cholinergic neurons mimics the cognitive decline reminiscent of AD but not its neuropathology. Alternative models rely on the overexpression of genes associated with familial AD, such as amyloid precursor protein, or have genetically amplified expression of mutant tau. Yet transgenic rodent models poorly replicate the neuropathogenesis and protein overexpression patterns of sporadic AD. Seeding rodents with amyloid or tau facilitates the formation of these pathologies but cannot account for their initial accumulation. Intracerebral infusion of proinflammatory agents offer an alternative model, but these fail to replicate the cause of AD. A novel model is therefore needed, perhaps similar to those used for Parkinson's disease, namely adult wildtype rodents with neuron-specific (dopaminergic) lesions within the same vulnerable brainstem nuclei, 'the isodendritic core', which are the first to degenerate in AD. Site-selective targeting of these nuclei in adult rodents may recapitulate the initial neurodegenerative processes in AD to faithfully mimic its pathogenesis and progression, ultimately leading to presymptomatic biomarkers and preventative therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helen M. Collins
- Neuro-Bio Ltd., Building F5 The Culham Campus, Abingdon OX14 3DB, UK;
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Aires V, Ziegler-Waldkirch S, Friesen M, Reichardt W, Erny D, Loreth D, Harborne A, Kretz O, von Elverfeldt D, Meyer-Luehmann M. Seed-induced Aβ deposits in the corpus callosum disrupt white matter integrity in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. Front Cell Neurosci 2022; 16:862918. [PMID: 36003141 PMCID: PMC9393256 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2022.862918] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2022] [Accepted: 07/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Neuropathologically, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by the accumulation of amyloid-beta peptide (Aβ) and subsequent formation of the so-called Aβ plaques. Along with neuronal loss, previous studies report white matter anomalies and corpus callosum (CC) atrophy in AD patients. Notably, perturbations in the white matter can be observed years before expected disease onset, suggesting that early stages of disease progression play a role in AD-associated loss of myelin integrity. Through seed-induced deposition of Aβ, we are able to examine alterations of central nervous system (CNS) integrity during the initial stages of plaque formation. In this study, we investigate the impact of Aβ seeding in the CC utilizing various imaging techniques as well as quantitative gene expression analysis and demonstrate that Aβ deposits result in an imbalance of glial cells in the CC. We found increased amounts of phagocytic microglia and reactive astrocytes, while oligodendrocyte progenitor cell (OPC) numbers were reduced. Moreover, white matter aberrations adjacent to the Aβ seeding were observed together with an overall decline in callosal myelination. This data indicate that the initial stages of plaque formation induce oligodendrocyte dysfunction, which might ultimately lead to myelin loss.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vanessa Aires
- Department of Neurology, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Stephanie Ziegler-Waldkirch
- Department of Neurology, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Marina Friesen
- Department of Neurology, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Wilfried Reichardt
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Department of Radiology, Medical Physics, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research (DKTK), Heidelberg, Germany
- German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Daniel Erny
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Institute of Neuropathology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Berta-Ottenstein-Programme, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Desiree Loreth
- Department of Neurology, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Institute of Cellular and Integrative Physiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Andrew Harborne
- Department of Neurology, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Oliver Kretz
- Department of Internal Medicine III, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Dominik von Elverfeldt
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Department of Radiology, Medical Physics, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Melanie Meyer-Luehmann
- Department of Neurology, Medical Center – University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- Center for Basics in NeuroModulation (NeuroModulBasics), Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
- *Correspondence: Melanie Meyer-Luehmann,
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