title: Longitudinal assessment of a transgenic animal model of tauopathy by FDG-PET imaging.
abstract: Abnormal levels and hyperphosphorylation of tau protein have been proposed as the underlying cause of a group of neurodegenerative disorders collectively known as 'tauopathies'. The detrimental consequence is the loss of affinity between this protein and the microtubules, increased production of fibrillary aggregates, and the accumulation of insoluble intracellular neurofibrillary tangles. A similar phenotype can be observed in various preclinical models, which have been generated to study the role of tau protein in neurodegenerative disorders. In this study, we have analyzed the brain metabolic activity in an animal model of tauopathy (tauVLW transgenic mice), which has been previously reported to mimic some of the phenotypic features of these disorders. By using a non-invasive technique, positron emission tomography (PET), a longitudinal non-clinical follow up study was carried out during most of the lifespan of these transgenic mice, from the youth to the senescence stages. The results obtained point out to an aging-dependent decrease in 18F-fluoro-deoxyglucose (FDG) uptake in the cerebral areas analyzed, which was already significant at the adult age, i.e., 11 months, and became much more prominent in the oldest animals (19 months old). This observation correlates well with the histopathological observation of neurodegeneration in brain areas where there is overexpression of tau protein.
authors.affiliation: CAI de Cartografía Cerebral, Instituto Pluridisciplinar, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Paseo Juan XXIII 1, Madrid, Spain Noscira SA, Tres Cantos (Madrid), Spain.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: de Cristóbal
authors.affiliation: CAI de Cartografía Cerebral, Instituto Pluridisciplinar, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Paseo Juan XXIII 1, Madrid, Spain Departamento de Farmacología, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Pza. Ramón y Cajal s/n, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: García-García
authors.affiliation: CAI de Cartografía Cerebral, Instituto Pluridisciplinar, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Paseo Juan XXIII 1, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Mercedes
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Delgado
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Anatomía Histología y Neurociencia, Facultad de Medicina UAM, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Mar
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pérez
authors.affiliation: CAI de Cartografía Cerebral, Instituto Pluridisciplinar, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Paseo Juan XXIII 1, Madrid, Spain Instituto Tecnológico PET, c/Manuel Bartolomé Cossío, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Miguel A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Pozo
authors.affiliation: Noscira SA, Tres Cantos (Madrid), Spain.
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Medina
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D016874:Neurofibrillary Tangles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D024801:Tauopathies / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016875:tau Proteins
keywords: Brain metabolism; longitudinal; neuroimaging; tau protein; transgenic mouse