Working memory impairment in a transgenic amyloid precursor protein TgCRND8 mouse model of Alzheimer's disease

Glutamate Receptor Dysregulation and Platelet Glutamate Dynamics in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases: Insights into Current Medications

Two of the most prevalent neurodegenerative disorders (NDDs), Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD), present significant challenges to healthcare systems worldwide. While the etiologies of AD and PD differ, both diseases share commonalities in synaptic dysfunction, thereby focusing attention on the role of neurotransmitters. The possible functions that platelets may play in neurodegenerative illnesses including PD and AD are becoming more acknowledged. In AD, platelets have been investigated for their ability to generate amyloid-ß (Aß) peptides, contributing to the formation of neurotoxic plaques. Moreover, platelets are considered biomarkers for early AD diagnosis. In PD, platelets have been studied for their involvement in oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction, which are key factors in the disease's pathogenesis. Emerging research shows that platelets, which release glutamate upon activation, also play a role in these disorders. Decreased glutamate uptake in platelets has been observed in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients, pointing to a systemic dysfunction in glutamate handling. This paper aims to elucidate the critical role that glutamate receptors play in the pathophysiology of both AD and PD. Utilizing data from clinical trials, animal models, and cellular studies, we reviewed how glutamate receptors dysfunction contributes to neurodegenerative (ND) processes such as excitotoxicity, synaptic loss, and cognitive impairment. The paper also reviews all current medications including glutamate receptor antagonists for AD and PD, highlighting their mode of action and limitations. A deeper understanding of glutamate receptor involvement including its systemic regulation by platelets could open new avenues for more effective treatments, potentially slowing disease progression and improving patient outcomes.

Progressive sleep disturbance in various transgenic mouse models of Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia. The relationship between AD and sleep dysfunction has received increased attention over the past decade. The use of genetically engineered mouse models with enhanced production of amyloid beta (Aβ) or hyperphosphorylated tau has played a critical role in the understanding of the pathophysiology of AD. However, their revelations regarding the progression of sleep impairment in AD have been highly dependent on the mouse model used and the specific techniques employed to examine sleep. Here, we discuss the sleep disturbances and general pathology of 15 mouse models of AD. Sleep disturbances covered in this review include changes to NREM and REM sleep duration, bout lengths, bout counts and power spectra. Our aim is to describe in detail the severity and chronology of sleep disturbances within individual mouse models of AD, as well as reveal broader trends of sleep deterioration that are shared among most models. This review also explores a variety of potential mechanisms relating Aβ accumulation and tau neurofibrillary tangles to the progressive deterioration of sleep observed in AD. Lastly, this review offers perspective on how study design might impact our current understanding of sleep disturbances in AD and provides strategies for future research.

Spatial Disorientation Under Dark Conditions Across Development in an Alzheimer's Disease Mouse Model

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with hippocampal neuropathology and cognitive impairments, including wandering behavior or becoming lost in a familiar environment. Wandering behavior is severe and manifests early in life for people with specific genetic mutations. Genetic mouse models of AD have been developed to characterize the onset and progression of behavioral deficits that represent human behaviors, such as wandering, to test the efficacy of therapeutics. It is not clear if current assessments of mouse models capture the onset of AD or a snapshot of its progression. Sequential analysis of open field behavior provides a robust, quick test to dissociate navigation cues that contribute to spatial disorientation, a feature of wandering. Despite potential utility in evaluating this feature of AD, little work has been reported using animal models of dementia in this task. Thus, we examined the use of different sources of information to maintain spatial orientation at two prodromal ages in female transgenic CRND8 AD (n = 17) and Control mice (n = 16). These mice exhibit amyloid plaques, a hallmark neuropathological feature of AD, that are associated with cognitive dysfunction at ∼three months of age. Spatial disorientation was observed at two months and more severely at four months under dark conditions, but performance was spared when visual environmental cues were available. This study provides documentation of impaired self-movement cue processing in AD mice, establishing the dark open field as a behavioral tool to characterize spatial disorientation associated with AD. These findings may accelerate future assessments of novel therapeutic interventions for neurological disorders.

Early postnatal handling reduces hippocampal amyloid plaque formation and enhances cognitive performance in APPswe/PS1dE9 mice at middle age

In rodents, fragmented and low levels of maternal care have been implicated in age-related cognitive decline and the incidence and progression of Alzheimer's pathology. In contrast, enhancing early postnatal maternal care has been associated with improved cognitive function later in life. Here we examined whether early postnatal handling of mouse pups from postnatal days 2-9 enhanced maternal care and whether this affected cognition and Alzheimer pathology at 5 and 11months of age in the APPswe/PS1dE9 mouse model for Alzheimer's disease. Brief, 15min daily episodes of separating offspring from their dams from postnatal days 2-9 (early handling, EH) increased maternal care of the dam towards her pups upon reunion. At 11 (but not 5) months of age, EH APPswe/PS1dE1 mice displayed significantly reduced amyloid plaque pathology in the hippocampus. At this age, EH also prevented short-term working memory deficits while restoring impairments in contextual fear memory formation in APPswe/PS1dE9 mice. EH did not modulate amyloid pathology in the amygdala, nor did it affect auditory fear conditioning deficits in APPswe/PS1dE9 mice. We conclude that increased levels of maternal care during the early life period delays amyloid accumulation and cognitive decline in an Alzheimer's mouse model, involving the hippocampus, but not to the amygdala. These studies highlight the importance of the early postnatal period in modulating resilience to develop Alzheimer's pathology later in life.

Pim1 inhibition as a novel therapeutic strategy for Alzheimer's disease

Background

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder worldwide. Clinically, AD is characterized by impairments of memory and cognitive functions. Accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) and neurofibrillary tangles are the prominent neuropathologies in patients with AD. Strong evidence indicates that an imbalance between production and degradation of key proteins contributes to the pathogenesis of AD. The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) plays a key role in maintaining protein homeostasis as it regulates both protein synthesis and degradation. A key regulator of mTOR activity is the proline-rich AKT substrate 40 kDa (PRAS40), which directly binds to mTOR and reduces its activity. Notably, AD patients have elevated levels of phosphorylated PRAS40, which correlate with Aβ and tau pathologies as well as cognitive deficits. Physiologically, PRAS40 phosphorylation is regulated by Pim1, a protein kinase of the protoconcogene family. Here, we tested the effects of a selective Pim1 inhibitor (Pim1i), on spatial reference and working memory and AD-like pathology in 3xTg-AD mice.

Results

We have identified a Pim1i that crosses the blood brain barrier and reduces PRAS40 phosphorylation. Pim1i-treated 3xTg-AD mice performed significantly better than their vehicle treated counterparts as well as non-transgenic mice. Additionally, 3xTg-AD Pim1i-treated mice showed a reduction in soluble and insoluble Aβ₄₀ and Aβ₄₂ levels, as well as a 45.2 % reduction in Aβ₄₂ plaques within the hippocampus. Furthermore, phosphorylated tau immunoreactivity was reduced in the hippocampus of Pim1i–treated 3xTg-AD mice by 38 %. Mechanistically, these changes were linked to a significant increase in proteasome activity.

Conclusion

These results suggest that reductions in phosphorylated PRAS40 levels via Pim1 inhibition reduce Aβ and Tau pathology and rescue cognitive deficits by increasing proteasome function. Given that Pim1 inhibitors are already being tested in ongoing human clinical trials for cancer, the results presented here may open a new venue of drug discovery for AD by developing more Pim1 inhibitors.

Chronic Hypertension Leads to Neurodegeneration in the TgSwDI Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease

Numerous epidemiological studies link vascular disorders, such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and stroke, with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Hypertension, specifically, is an important modifiable risk factor for late-onset AD. To examine the link between midlife hypertension and the onset of AD later in life, we chemically induced chronic hypertension in the TgSwDI mouse model of AD in early adulthood. Hypertension accelerated cognitive deficits in the Barnes maze test (P<0.05 after 3 months of treatment; P<0.001 after 6 months), microvascular deposition of β-amyloid (P<0.001 after 3 months of treatment; P<0.05 after 6 months), vascular inflammation (P<0.05 in the dentate gyrus and P<0.001 in the dorsal subiculum after 6 months of treatment), blood-brain barrier leakage (P<0.05 after 3 and 6 months of treatment), and pericyte loss (P<0.05 in the dentate gyrus and P<0.01 in the dorsal subiculum after 6 months of treatment) in these mice. In addition, hypertension induced hippocampal neurodegeneration at an early age in this mouse line (43% reduction in the dorsal subiculum; P<0.05), establishing this as a useful research model of AD with mixed vascular and amyloid pathologies.

Using mice to model Alzheimer's dementia: an overview of the clinical disease and the preclinical behavioral changes in 10 mouse models

The goal of this review is to discuss how behavioral tests in mice relate to the pathological and neuropsychological features seen in human Alzheimer's disease (AD), and present a comprehensive analysis of the temporal progression of behavioral impairments in commonly used AD mouse models that contain mutations in amyloid precursor protein (APP). We begin with a brief overview of the neuropathological changes seen in the AD brain and an outline of some of the clinical neuropsychological assessments used to measure cognitive deficits associated with the disease. This is followed by a critical assessment of behavioral tasks that are used in AD mice to model the cognitive changes seen in the human disease. Behavioral tests discussed include spatial memory tests [Morris water maze (MWM), radial arm water maze (RAWM), Barnes maze], associative learning tasks (passive avoidance, fear conditioning), alternation tasks (Y-Maze/T-Maze), recognition memory tasks (Novel Object Recognition), attentional tasks (3 and 5 choice serial reaction time), set-shifting tasks, and reversal learning tasks. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each of these behavioral tasks, and how they may correlate with clinical assessments in humans. Finally, the temporal progression of both cognitive and non-cognitive deficits in 10 AD mouse models (PDAPP, TG2576, APP23, TgCRND8, J20, APP/PS1, TG2576 + PS1 (M146L), APP/PS1 KI, 5×FAD, and 3×Tg-AD) are discussed in detail. Mouse models of AD and the behavioral tasks used in conjunction with those models are immensely important in contributing to our knowledge of disease progression and are a useful tool to study AD pathophysiology and the resulting cognitive deficits. However, investigators need to be aware of the potential weaknesses of the available preclinical models in terms of their ability to model cognitive changes observed in human AD. It is our hope that this review will assist investigators in selecting an appropriate mouse model, and accompanying behavioral paradigms to investigate different aspects of AD pathology and disease progression.

Imaging of cerebrovascular pathology in animal models of Alzheimer's disease

In Alzheimer's disease (AD), vascular pathology may interact with neurodegeneration and thus aggravate cognitive decline. As the relationship between these two processes is poorly understood, research has been increasingly focused on understanding the link between cerebrovascular alterations and AD. This has at last been spurred by the engineering of transgenic animals, which display pathological features of AD and develop cerebral amyloid angiopathy to various degrees. Transgenic models are versatile for investigating the role of amyloid deposition and vascular dysfunction, and for evaluating novel therapeutic concepts. In addition, research has benefited from the development of novel imaging techniques, which are capable of characterizing vascular pathology in vivo. They provide vascular structural read-outs and have the ability to assess the functional consequences of vascular dysfunction as well as to visualize and monitor the molecular processes underlying these pathological alterations. This article focusses on recent in vivo small animal imaging studies addressing vascular aspects related to AD. With the technical advances of imaging modalities such as magnetic resonance, nuclear and microscopic imaging, molecular, functional and structural information related to vascular pathology can now be visualized in vivo in small rodents. Imaging vascular and parenchymal amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition as well as Aβ transport pathways have been shown to be useful to characterize their dynamics and to elucidate their role in the development of cerebral amyloid angiopathy and AD. Structural and functional imaging read-outs have been employed to describe the deleterious affects of Aβ on vessel morphology, hemodynamics and vascular integrity. More recent imaging studies have also addressed how inflammatory processes partake in the pathogenesis of the disease. Moreover, imaging can be pivotal in the search for novel therapies targeting the vasculature.

Effects of specific multi-nutrient enriched diets on cerebral metabolism, cognition and neuropathology in AβPPswe-PS1dE9 mice

Recent studies have focused on the use of multi-nutrient dietary interventions in search of alternatives for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study we investigated to which extent long-term consumption of two specific multi-nutrient diets can modulate AD-related etiopathogenic mechanisms and behavior in 11-12-month-old AβPPswe-PS1dE9 mice. Starting from 2 months of age, male AβPP-PS1 mice and wild-type littermates were fed either a control diet, the DHA+EPA+UMP (DEU) diet enriched with uridine monophosphate (UMP) and the omega-3 fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), or the Fortasyn® Connect (FC) diet enriched with the DEU diet plus phospholipids, choline, folic acid, vitamins and antioxidants. We performed behavioral testing, proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy, immunohistochemistry, biochemical analyses and quantitative real-time PCR to gain a better understanding of the potential mechanisms by which these multi-nutrient diets exert protective properties against AD. Our results show that both diets were equally effective in changing brain fatty acid and cholesterol profiles. However, the diets differentially affected AD-related pathologies and behavioral measures, suggesting that the effectiveness of specific nutrients may depend on the dietary context in which they are provided. The FC diet was more effective than the DEU diet in counteracting neurodegenerative aspects of AD and enhancing processes involved in neuronal maintenance and repair. Both diets elevated interleukin-1β mRNA levels in AβPP-PS1 and wild-type mice. The FC diet additionally restored neurogenesis in AβPP-PS1 mice, decreased hippocampal levels of unbound choline-containing compounds in wild-type and AβPP-PS1 animals, suggesting diminished membrane turnover, and decreased anxiety-related behavior in the open field behavior. In conclusion, the current data indicate that specific multi-nutrient diets can influence AD-related etiopathogenic processes. Intervention with the FC diet might be of interest for several other neurodegenerative and neurological disorders.

Comprehensive behavioral characterization of an APP/PS-1 double knock-in mouse model of Alzheimer's disease

INTRODUCTION

Despite the extensive mechanistic and pathological characterization of the amyloid precursor protein (APP)/presenilin-1 (PS-1) knock-in mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (AD), very little is known about the AD-relevant behavioral deficits in this model. Characterization of the baseline behavioral performance in a variety of functional tasks and identification of the temporal onset of behavioral impairments are important to provide a foundation for future preclinical testing of AD therapeutics. Here we perform a comprehensive behavioral characterization of this model, discuss how the observed behavior correlates with the mechanistic and pathological observations of others, and compare this model with other commonly used AD mouse models.

METHODS

FOUR DIFFERENT GROUPS OF MICE RANGING ACROSS THE LIFESPAN OF THIS MODEL (TEST GROUPS: 7, 11, 15, and 24 months old) were run in a behavioral test battery consisting of tasks to assess motor function (grip strength, rotor rod, beam walk, open field ambulatory movement), anxiety-related behavior (open field time spent in peripheral zone vs. center zone, elevated plus maze), and cognitive function (novel object recognition, radial arm water maze).

RESULTS

There were no differences in motor function or anxiety-related behavior between APP/PS-1 knock-in mice and wild-type counterpart mice for any age group. Cognitive deficits in both recognition memory (novel object recognition) and spatial reference memory (radial arm water maze) became apparent for the knock-in animals as the disease progressed.

CONCLUSION

This is the first reported comprehensive behavioral analysis of the APP/PS1 knock-in mouse model of AD. The lack of motor/coordination deficits or abnormal anxiety levels, coupled with the age/disease-related cognitive decline and high physiological relevance of this model, make it well suited for utilization in preclinical testing of AD-relevant therapeutics.

A longitudinal study of cognition, proton MR spectroscopy and synaptic and neuronal pathology in aging wild-type and AβPPswe-PS1dE9 mice

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H MRS) is a valuable tool in Alzheimer’s disease research, investigating the functional integrity of the brain. The present longitudinal study set out to characterize the neurochemical profile of the hippocampus, measured by single voxel ¹H MRS at 7 Tesla, in the brains of AβPPSswe-PS1dE9 and wild-type mice at 8 and 12 months of age. Furthermore, we wanted to determine whether alterations in hippocampal metabolite levels coincided with behavioral changes, cognitive decline and neuropathological features, to gain a better understanding of the underlying neurodegenerative processes. Moreover, correlation analyses were performed in the 12-month-old AβPP-PS1 animals with the hippocampal amyloid-β deposition, TBS-T soluble Aβ levels and high-molecular weight Aβ aggregate levels to gain a better understanding of the possible involvement of Aβ in neurochemical and behavioral changes, cognitive decline and neuropathological features in AβPP-PS1 transgenic mice. Our results show that at 8 months of age AβPPswe-PS1dE9 mice display behavioral and cognitive changes compared to age-matched wild-type mice, as determined in the open field and the (reverse) Morris water maze. However, there were no variations in hippocampal metabolite levels at this age. AβPP-PS1 mice at 12 months of age display more severe behavioral and cognitive impairment, which coincided with alterations in hippocampal metabolite levels that suggest reduced neuronal integrity. Furthermore, correlation analyses suggest a possible role of Aβ in inflammatory processes, synaptic dysfunction and impaired neurogenesis.

Behavioral effects of Rho GTPase modulation in a model of Alzheimer's disease

Small GTPases of the Rho family, including Rho, Rac and CDC42 subfamilies, play key role in neural connectivity and cognition. The pharmacological modulation of these regulatory proteins is associated with enhancement of learning and memory. We sought to determine whether the modulation of cerebral Rho GTPases may correct behavioral disturbances in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (AD). TgCRND8 mice show early-onset Abeta amyloid deposits associated with deficits in several cognitive tasks. We report that four-month old TgCRND8 mice display (a) increased locomotor activity in an open field, (b) mild deficits in the learning of a fixed platform position in a water maze task. More markedly, after displacement of the escape platform, TgCRND8 mice exhibit impairment in the learning of the novel position (reversal learning), as they perseverate searching in the familiar position. The administration of the Rho GTPase activator Cytotoxic Necrotizing Factor 1 (CNF1, 1.0 fmol kg(-1) intracerebroventricularly) reduces locomotor hyperactivity and corrects the deficits in reversal learning, thus re-establishing normal behavioral plasticity. We conclude that the pharmacological modulation of Rho GTPase signaling might be beneficial for the treatment of AD. Reversal learning in TgCRND8 mice may represent a convenient pre-clinical assay for the efficacy of therapeutic interventions in AD.

Age-related increase in amyloid plaque burden is associated with impairment in conditioned fear memory in CRND8 mouse model of amyloidosis

Introduction

The current pathological confirmation of the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is still based on postmortem identification of parenchymal amyloid beta (Aβ) plaques, intra-neuronal neurofibrillary tangles, and neuronal loss. The memory deficits that are present in the early stages of AD are linked to the dysfunction of structures in the entorhinal cortex and limbic system, especially the hippocampus and amygdala. Using the CRND8 transgenic mouse model of amyloidosis, which over-expresses a mutant human amyloid precursor protein (APP) gene, we evaluated hippocampus-dependent contextual and amygdala-dependent tone fear conditioned (FC) memory, and investigated the relationship between the fear memory indices and Aβ plaque burden.

Methods

Mice were tested at three, six, and 12 months of age, which corresponds to early, mild, and severe Aβ plaque deposition, following a cross-sectional experimental design. We used a delay version of the fear conditioning paradigm in which tone stimulus was co-terminated with foot-shocks during exploration of the training chamber. The Aβ plaque burden was evaluated at each age after the completion of the behavioral tests.

Results

CRDN8 mice showed context fear memory comparable to control mice at three and six months, but were significantly impaired at 12 months of age. In contrast, the tone fear memory was significantly impaired in the model at each age of testing. The Aβ plaque burden significantly increased with age, and was correlated with the overall impairment in context and tone fear memory in the CRND8 mice within the studied age.

Conclusions

Our data extend previous studies showing that other APP mouse models exhibit impairment in fear conditioned memory, by demonstrating that this impairment is progressive and correlates well with an overall increase in Aβ burden. Also, the demonstrated greater sensitivity of the tone conditioning test in the identification of age dependent differences between CRND8 and control mice suggests that this paradigm might be particularly suitable in studies evaluating potential therapeutics related to memory improvement in mouse models of amyloidosis.

Coenzyme Q10 decreases amyloid pathology and improves behavior in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease

Increased oxidative stress is implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). A large body of evidence suggests that mitochondrial dysfunction and increased reactive oxygen species occur prior to amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition. Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), a component of the mitochondrial electron transport chain, is well characterized as a neuroprotective antioxidant in animal models and human trials of Huntington's disease and Parkinson's disease, and reduces plaque burden in AβPP/PS1 mice. We now show that CoQ10 reduces oxidative stress and amyloid pathology and improves behavioral performance in the Tg19959 mouse model of AD. CoQ10 treatment decreased brain levels of protein carbonyls, a marker of oxidative stress. CoQ10 treatment resulted in decreased plaque area and number in hippocampus and in overlying cortex immunostained with an Aβ42-specific antibody. Brain Aβ42 levels were also decreased by CoQ10 supplementation. Levels of amyloid-β protein precursor (AβPP) β-carboxyterminal fragments were decreased. Importantly, CoQ10-treated mice showed improved cognitive performance during Morris water maze testing. Our results show decreased pathology and improved behavior in transgenic AD mice treated with the naturally occurring antioxidant compound CoQ10. CoQ10 is well tolerated in humans and may be promising for therapeutic trials in AD.

Naturally occurring autoantibodies against beta-amyloid: investigating their role in transgenic animal and in vitro models of Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder primarily affecting regions of the brain responsible for higher cognitive functions. Immunization against β-amyloid (Aβ) in animal models of AD has been shown to be effective on the molecular level but also on the behavioral level. Recently, we reported naturally occurring autoantibodies against Aβ (NAbs-Aβ) being reduced in Alzheimer's disease patients. Here, we further investigated their physiological role: in epitope mapping studies, NAbs-Aβ recognized the mid-/C-terminal end of Aβ and preferentially bound to oligomers but failed to bind to monomers/fibrils. NAbs-Aβ were able to interfere with Aβ peptide toxicity, but NAbs-Aβ did not readily clear senile plaques although early fleecy-like plaques were reduced. Administration of NAbs-Aβ in transgenic mice improved the object location memory significantly, almost reaching performance levels of wild-type control mice. These findings suggest a novel physiological mechanism involving NAbs-Aβ to dispose of proteins or peptides that are prone to forming toxic aggregates.

Spatial learning and memory impairment and increased locomotion in a transgenic amyloid precursor protein mouse model of Alzheimer's disease

This study provides an examination of spatial learning and a behavioral assessment of irritability and locomotion in TgCRND8 mice, an amyloid precursor protein transgenic model of Alzheimer's disease. Performance was assessed using the Barnes maze, the touch escape test, and an open-field test. While past research focused primarily on 2-5-month-old TgCRND8 mice, the present study used an older age cohort (9-month-old female mice), in addition to a 4-month-old cohort of both transgenic (Tg) and wildtype female mice. Both younger and older Tg mice displayed poor spatial learning in the Barnes maze task compared to their wildtype littermates, as demonstrated by significantly longer latencies and more errors both during acquisition and at a 2-week retest. No differences in irritability were found between Tg and control mice in the younger cohort; however, older Tg mice displayed significantly higher irritability compared with wildtype littermates, as measured by the touch escape test. Additionally, Tg mice of both age cohorts showed increased locomotion and slowed habituation during a 60-min open-field test over 3 days of testing. These results demonstrate that TgCRND8 mice show significant deficits in spatial and nonspatial behavioral tasks at advanced stages of amyloid pathology.

Validation of a rodent model of episodic memory

Episodic memory consists of representations of specific episodes that happened in the past. Modeling episodic memory in animals requires careful examination of alternative explanations of performance. Putative evidence of episodic-like memory may be based on encoding failure or expectations derived from well-learned semantic rules. In Experiment 1, rats were tested in a radial maze with study and test phases separated by a retention interval. The replenishment of chocolate (at its study-phase location) depended on two factors: time of day (morning vs. afternoon) and the presence or absence of chocolate pellets at the start of the test phase. Because replenishment could not be decoded until the test phase, rats were required to encode the study episode. Success in this task rules out encoding failure. In Experiment 2, two identical mazes in different rooms were used. Chocolate replenishment was trained in one room, and then they were asked to report about a recent event in a different room, where they had no expectation that the memory assessment would occur. Rats successfully answered the unexpected question, ruling out use of expectations derived from well-learned semantic rules. Our behavioral methods for modeling episodic memory may have broad application for assessments of genetic, neuroanatomical, neurochemical, and neurophysiological bases of both episodic memory and memory disorders such as those that occur in Alzheimer's disease.

APP transgenic mice: their use and limitations

Alzheimer's disease is the most widespread form of dementia. Its histopathological hallmarks include vascular and extracellular β-amyloid (Aβ) deposition and intraneuronal neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs). Gradual decline of cognitive functions linked to progressive synaptic loss makes patients unable to store new information in the earlier stages of the pathology, later becoming completely dependent because they are unable to do even elementary daily life actions. Although more than a hundred years have passed since Alois Alzheimer described the first case of AD, and despite many years of intense research, there are still many crucial points to be discovered in the neuropathological pathway. The development of transgenic mouse models engineered with overexpression of the amyloid precursor protein carrying familial AD mutations has been extremely useful. Transgenic mice present the hallmarks of the pathology, and histological and behavioural examination supports the amyloid hypothesis. As in human AD, extracellular Aβ deposits surrounded by activated astrocytes and microglia are typical features, together with synaptic and cognitive defects. Although animal models have been widely used, they are still being continuously developed in order to recapitulate some missing aspects of the disease. For instance, AD therapeutic agents tested in transgenic mice gave encouraging results which, however, were very disappointing in clinical trials. Neuronal cell death and NFTs typical of AD are much harder to replicate in these mice, which thus offer a fundamental but still imperfect tool for understanding and solving dementia pathology.

Motor deficits, neuron loss, and reduced anxiety coinciding with axonal degeneration and intraneuronal Aβ aggregation in the 5XFAD mouse model of Alzheimer's disease

In the present report, we extend previous findings in the 5XFAD mouse model and demonstrate that these mice develop an age-dependent motor phenotype in addition to working memory deficits and reduced anxiety levels as demonstrated in an elevated plus maze task. Employing a variety of N- and C-terminal specific Aβ antibodies, abundant intraneuronal and plaque-associated pathology, including accumulation of pyroglutamate Aβ, was observed as early as the age of 3 months. Using unbiased stereology, we demonstrate that the 5XFAD mice develop a significant selective neuron loss in layer 5 of the cortex, leaving the overall neuron number of the total frontal cortex and hippocampus unaffected. This observation coincides with the accumulation of intraneuronal Aβ peptides only in cortical Layer 5, but not in CA1, despite comparable APP expression levels. The motor phenotype correlates with abundant spinal cord pathology, as demonstrated by abundant intraneuronal Aβ accumulation and extracellular plaque deposition. In addition, comparable to the APP/PS1KI mouse model, 5XFAD mice develop an age-dependent axonopathy likely contributing to the behavioral deficits.

Age-associated motor and visuo-spatial learning phenotype in Dyrk1A heterozygous mutant mice

Dual-specificity tyrosine-regulated kinase 1A (DYRK1A) is a candidate gene for the Down syndrome neurological defects and may be involved in the progression of Alzheimer's disease. Heterozygous mice for Dyrk1A (Dyrk1A+/-) exhibit decreased brain size, motor abnormalities and cognitive deficits in the adult. However, there is no information about the mutant phenotype in old ages. Here we analyze the impact of Dyrk1A dosage reduction on motor performance and hippocampal-dependent learning and memory in aged Dyrk1A+/- mice. Whereas motor tests showed marked alterations in traction ability, prehensile reflex and balance, heterozygous mice only present a slight impairment of visuo-spatial memory even though they show a robust decrease of CA1-CA3 and dentate gyrus cells.

Amyloid beta and impairment in multiple memory systems in older transgenic APP TgCRND8 mice

The relationship between amyloid beta and cognitive dysfunction in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease has been evaluated predominantly with the spatial reference memory version of the water maze task. However, as Alzheimer's disease encompasses decline in multiple memory systems, it is important to also utilize non-spatial tasks to fully characterize the role of amyloid on behaviour in animal models. We used the TgCRND8 mouse model of Alzheimer's disease to evaluate the effect of amyloid on spatial reference memory, as well as on the non-spatial task of acquisition of conditioned taste aversion, and on the procedural task of swimming to a visible platform. We demonstrate that 8- to 12-month-old TgCRND8 mice are significantly impaired in all three tasks, and that the levels of soluble amyloid beta are significantly correlated with impairment in spatial reference memory, but not with impairment in conditioned taste aversion or swimming to a visible platform. Insoluble fractions of amyloid, which correspond closely to amyloid plaque burden in the brain, are not associated with any behavioural measure. Our study extends the characterization of the model to stages of advanced amyloid pathology and demonstrates that older TgCRND8 mice are impaired in multiple memory systems, including procedural tasks, which are spared at younger ages. The lack of association between amyloid plaques and memory decline supports clinical findings in Alzheimer's patients.

Reduction of oxidative stress, amyloid deposition, and memory deficit by manganese superoxide dismutase overexpression in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease

In Alzheimer's disease (AD), oxidative stress is present early and contributes to disease pathogenesis. We previously reported that in Tg19959 transgenic AD mice, partial deficiency of the mitochondrial antioxidant enzyme manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) exacerbated amyloid pathology. We therefore asked whether MnSOD overexpression would prove beneficial against AD pathogenesis, by studying the offspring of Tg19959 mice crossed with MnSOD-overexpressing mice. At 4 mo of age, there was a 2- to 3-fold increase in MnSOD protein levels in Tg19959-MnSOD mice compared to Tg19959 littermates. Tg19959-MnSOD mice also had a 50% increase in catalase protein levels, a 50% decrease in levels of oxidized protein, and a 33% reduction in cortical plaque burden compared to Tg19959 littermates. Spatial memory was impaired and synaptophysin levels were decreased in Tg19959 mice compared to wild-type littermates, but memory and synaptophysin levels were restored to wild-type levels in Tg19959-MnSOD littermates. These benefits occurred without changes in sodium dodecyl sulfate-soluble or formic acid-soluble Abeta pools or Abeta oligomers in Tg19959-MnSOD mice compared to Tg19959 littermates. These data demonstrate that facilitation of the mitochondrial antioxidant response improves resistance to Abeta, slows plaque formation or increases plaque degradation, and markedly attenuates the phenotype in a transgenic AD mouse model.

Triterpenoid CDDO-methylamide improves memory and decreases amyloid plaques in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease

Oxidative stress is one of the earliest events in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and can markedly exacerbate amyloid pathology. Modulation of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory pathways represents an important approach for AD therapy. Synthetic triterpenoids have been found to facilitate antioxidant response and reduce inflammation in several models. We investigated the effect of the triterpenoid, 2-Cyano-3,12-Dioxooleana-1,9-Dien-28-Oic acid-MethylAmide (CDDO-MA) in Tg19959 mice, which carry the human amyloid precursor protein with two mutations. These mice develop memory impairments and amyloid plaques as early as 2-3 months of age. CDDO-MA was provided with chow (800 mg/kg) from 1 to 4 months of age. CDDO-MA significantly improved spatial memory retention and reduced plaque burden, Abeta42 levels, microgliosis, and oxidative stress in Tg19959 mice.

Deficits in working memory and motor performance in the APP/PS1ki mouse model for Alzheimer's disease

The APP/PS1ki mouse model for Alzheimer's disease (AD) exhibits robust brain and spinal cord axonal degeneration and hippocampal CA1 neuron loss starting at 6 months of age. It expresses human mutant APP751 with the Swedish and London mutations together with two FAD-linked knocked-in mutations (PS1 M233T and PS1 L235P) in the murine PS1 gene. The present report covers a phenotypical analysis of this model using either behavioral tests for working memory and motor performance, as well as an analysis of weight development and body shape. At the age of 6 months, a dramatic, age-dependent change in all of these properties and characteristics was observed, accompanied by a significantly reduced ability to perform working memory and motor tasks. The APP/PS1ki mice were smaller and showed development of a thoracolumbar kyphosis, together with an incremental loss of body weight. While 2-month-old APP/PS1ki mice were inconspicuous in all of these tasks and properties, there is a massive age-related impairment in all tested behavioral paradigms. We have previously reported robust axonal degeneration in brain and spinal cord, as well as abundant hippocampal CA1 neuron loss starting at 6 months of age in the APP/PS1ki mouse model, which coincides with the onset of motor and memory deficits described in the present report.

Decreased nicotinic receptors and cognitive deficit in rats intracerebroventricularly injected with beta-amyloid peptide(1-42) and fed a high-cholesterol diet

To investigate whether the changes in nicotinic receptors (nAChRs) and in learning and memory associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are influenced by both beta-amyloid peptide (Abeta) and cholesterol in vivo, we examined the effects of intracerebroventricular injection of Abeta(1-42) and/or a high-cholesterol diet on brain levels of nAChRs and learning and memory in rats. The levels of nAChR subunit proteins and the corresponding mRNA were measured by Western blotting and RT-PCR, respectively; and learning and memory were evaluated with the Morris Water Maze examination. Injection of Abeta(1-42) resulted in deposition of this peptide, activation of astrocytes, decreased levels of the alpha7 and alpha4 protein subunits of the nAChR, and elevated expression of alpha7 mRNA, as well as impaired learning and spatial memory. A high-cholesterol diet activated astrocytes and, more importantly, potentiated the toxic effects of Abeta on nAChR subunit levels and on learning and memory. These findings may be highly relevant to the mechanisms underlying the cognitive deficits associated with AD.

Review on the APP/PS1KI mouse model: intraneuronal Abeta accumulation triggers axonopathy, neuron loss and working memory impairment

Accumulating evidence points to an important role of intraneuronal Abeta as a trigger of the pathological cascade of events leading to neurodegeneration and eventually to Alzheimer's disease (AD) with its typical clinical symptoms, like memory impairment and change in personality. As a new concept, intraneuronal accumulation of Abeta instead of extracellular Abeta deposition has been introduced to be the disease-triggering event in AD. The present review compiles current knowledge on the amyloid precursor protein (APP)/PS1KI mouse model with early and massive intraneuronal Abeta42 accumulation: (1) The APP/PS1KI mouse model exhibits early robust brain and spinal cord axonal degeneration and hippocampal CA1 neuron loss. (2) At the same time-point, a dramatic, age-dependent reduced ability to perform working memory and motor tasks is observed. (3) The APP/PS1KI mice are smaller and show development of a thoracolumbar kyphosis, together with an incremental loss of body weight. (4) Onset of the observed behavioral alterations correlates well with robust axonal degeneration in brain and spinal cord and with abundant hippocampal CA1 neuron loss.

Levodopa ameliorates learning and memory deficits in a murine model of Alzheimer's disease

Dopamine plays an important role in learning and memory processes. A deficit of this neurotransmitter as it is apparent in Alzheimer's disease (AD) may contribute to cognitive decline, a major symptom of AD patients. The aim of this study was to elucidate whether or not stimulation of the dopaminergic system leads to an improvement of cognitive function and reduction of non-cognitive behavioral alterations in a murine model of AD. Transgenic and wild type male mice of the TgCRND8 line were treated either with the dopamine precursor levodopa or vehicle and tested in two learning tasks, the object-recognition task and the Barnes maze test. Additionally 24 h spontaneous behavior in the home cage was analyzed. In both memory tasks wild type mice performed significantly better than transgenics. However, transgenics treated with levodopa showed a significant object recognition memory and improved acquisition of spatial memory in the Barnes maze compared to vehicle treated transgenics. Concerning spontaneous behavior transgenic mice performed much more stereotypies than wild types. However, there was a trend for reduced stereotypies in the levodopa group in the time the drug was active. Neurochemical analysis revealed elevated levels of dopamine in the neostriata and frontal cortices and reduced levels in the hippocampi of transgenic mice compared to wild types. Thus cognitive deficits and stereotypies may be due to changes in the dopaminergic system as they could be ameliorated by levodopa treatment, that might also have a therapeutic significance for AD.

Abnormal processing of tau in the brain of aged TgCRND8 mice

Amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are the main histopathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In the neocortex and hippocampus of aged TgCRND8 mice, tau is hyperphosphorylated at different sites recognized by PHF-1, AT100, AT8 and CP13 antibodies. Phospho-SAPK/JNK levels were increased in the tg mouse brain, where activated SAPK/JNK co-localizes with PHF-1-positive cells. Phosphorylated tau-positive cells showed Bielschowsky- and Thioflavine S-positive intraneuronal deposits. PHF-1 and nitrotyrosine immunoreactivity merged within neurons surrounding amyloid deposits in cortical and hippocampal areas and immunoprecipitation studies confirmed that tau is nitrosylated. Our findings, demonstrating the presence of hyperphosphorylated and nitrosylated tau protein as well as of insoluble aggregates after the onset of amyloid deposition in the TgCRND8 mouse brain, indicate that the abnormal processing of tau may occur subsequently to cerebral amyloidosis and that activation of SAPK/JNK and induction of nitrosative stress are the more likely connecting factors between amyloidosis and tauopathy in AD.

Aged APP23 mice show a delay in switching to the use of a strategy in the Barnes maze

Spatial learning and memory deficits in the APP23 transgenic mice have mainly been studied using the Morris water maze (MWM). However learning in the MWM relies on swimming abilities and may be confounded by the stressful nature of this test. We have therefore assessed spatial learning and memory in 12-month-old APP23 using a dry-land maze test developed by Barnes. Mice were given daily learning trials for a total of 41 successive days. After a 12-day interval the mice were re-tested for 4 additional days in order to examine the spatial memory retention. Immediately following this phase, reversal learning was examined for 13 additional days by moving the escape tunnel to the opposite position. During the initial learning phase, APP23 mice showed a significantly longer latency to find the escape tunnel as well as an increased number of errors compared to non-transgenic littermates. These deficits appeared to be due to a delay in switching from a "no strategy" to a spatial strategy. Indeed, this same delay in the use of spatial strategy was observed in the reversal phase of the study. Our results suggest that impairments in APP23 mice in learning and memory maze tests may be due to a specific deficit in the use of spatial strategy.

Cholinergic dysfunction, neuronal damage and axonal loss in TgCRND8 mice

In 7-month-old TgCRND8 mice, the extracellular cortical acetylcholine levels in vivo, the number and morphology of cholinergic neurons in the nucleus basalis magnocellularis and the ability to acquire an inhibitory avoidance response in the step-down test were studied. The TgCRND8 mouse brain is characterized by many beta-amyloid plaques, reduced neuronal and axonal staining, white matter demyelination, glia reaction and inducible nitric oxide synthase immunoreactivity. Choline acetyltransferase immunoreactivity in the nucleus basalis magnocellularis was significantly decreased. Basal and potassium-stimulated extracellular acetylcholine levels, investigated by microdialysis, and m2 muscarinic receptor immunoreactivity were reduced in the cortex of TgCRND8 mice, and scopolamine administration increased cortical extracellular acetylcholine levels in control but not in TgCRND8 mice. A cognitive impairment was demonstrated in the step-down test. These findings demonstrate that neuronal damage and cholinergic dysfunction in vivo underlie the impairment in learning and memory functions in this mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.

Plaques, tangles, and memory loss in mouse models of neurodegeneration

Within the past decade, our understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms in Alzheimer's disease (AD) has dramatically advanced because of the development of transgenic mouse models that recapitulate the key pathological and behavioral phenotypes of the disease. These mouse models have allowed investigators to test detailed questions about how pathology develops and to evaluate potential therapeutic approaches that could slow down the development of this disease. In this review, we discuss the status of transgenic mouse models and review the complex relationship between pathology and behavior in the development of neuropathological syndromes in AD.

APP23 mice display working memory impairment in the plus-shaped water maze

Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients typically present short-term memory deficits, before long-term memory capacity declines with disease progression. Several studies have described learning and memory deficits in the APP23 mouse model. Our group reported a decline of learning and memory capacities from the age of 3 months onwards using a hidden-platform Morris water maze (MWM). The aim of the present study was to evaluate working and reference memory in APP23 mice in the same plus-shaped water maze. The transgenic mice had slower learning curves; however, consolidation of the learned information appeared intact in this learning paradigm. This report demonstrates impairment of working memory in this transgenic Alzheimer model.