title: Diffuse beta-amyloid plaques and hyperphosphorylated tau are unrelated processes in aged dogs with behavioral deficits.
abstract: Single and double-labeling immunocytochemistry has been used to learn about the localization, distribution, and possible relationship between beta-amyloid protein (Abeta) deposition and tau hyperphosphorylation in the canine cerebral cortex with age. Behavioral impairment, as reported by the owners and tested in all dogs, correlated with increased Abeta burden in old dogs. Abeta plaques were diffuse and they were not accompanied by modifications in synaptic protein expression. Plaques were not associated with increased active mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK/ERK-P) and p38 kinase (p38-P) expression, and tau hyperphosphorylation in neighboring cell processes. Yet tau hyperphosphorylation, as revealed with phospho-specific antibodies to tauThr181 and tauSer396, increased with age in individual neurons. Moreover, the subcellular pattern shifted from perinuclear localization to granular cytoplasmic and nuclear distribution with age. Our results in dog suggest that Abeta diffuse plaque formation and tau hyperphosphorylation are independent events, both occurring during the process of aging. Although increased cognitive dysfunction is associated with increased tau hyperphosphorylation, further investigation is needed to understand whether tau hyperphosphorylation is causative of cognitive impairment or an independent process related to aging.
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Bioquímica, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, Facultat de Medicina, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pugliese
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mascort
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mahy
authors.forename: Isidro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ferrer
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000378:metabolism*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D008297:Male; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010766:Phosphorylation; D058225:Plaque, Amyloid / Q000378:metabolism*; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D016875:tau Proteins; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases