title: Human-like rodent amyloid-beta-peptide determines Alzheimer pathology in aged wild-type Octodon degu.
abstract: It is generally accepted that human Alzheimer's disease (AD) neuropathology markers are completely absent in rodent brains. We report here that an aged wild-type South American rodent, Octodon degu, expresses neuronal beta-amyloid precursor protein (beta-APP695) displaying both intracellular and extracellular deposits of amyloid-beta-peptide (Abeta), intracellular accumulations of tau-protein and ubiquitin, a strong astrocytic response and acetylcholinesterase (AChE)-rich pyramidal neurons. The high amino acid homology (97.5%) between deguAbeta and humanAbeta sequences is probably a major factor in the appearance of AD markers in this aged rodent. Our results indicate that aged O. degu constitutes the first wild-type rodent model for neurodegenerative processes associated to AD.
authors.affiliation: Centro FONDAP de Regulación Celular y Patología Joaquín V. Luco, MIFAB, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, P. Universidad Católica de Chile, Alameda 340, Santiago, Chile. ninestr@genes.bio.puc.cl
authors.forename: Nibaldo C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Inestrosa
authors.forename: Ariel E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Reyes
authors.forename: Marcelo A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Chacón
authors.forename: Waldo
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cerpa
authors.forename: Aldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Villalón
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Montiel
authors.forename: Genevieve
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Merabachvili
authors.forename: Rebeca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Aldunate
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bozinovic
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Aboitiz
mesh_terms: D000110:Acetylcholinesterase / Q000378:metabolism; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D015152:Blotting, Northern / Q000379:methods; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D046329:Octodon / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis; D051381:Rats; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D025801:Ubiquitin / Q000378:metabolism; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D025801:Ubiquitin; D016875:tau Proteins; D000110:Acetylcholinesterase