Neurochemical Research

, Volume 32, Issue 3, pp 415–421 | Cite as

Age-related Changes in Tau Expression in Transgenic Mouse Model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

  • Anna Barańczyk-Kuźma
  • Ewa Usarek
  • Magdalena Kuźma-Kozakiewcz
  • Beata Kaźmierczak
  • Beata Gajewska
  • Birgit Schwalenstocker
  • Albert C. Ludolph
Original Paper
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

The work is a continuation of studies on tau expression and alternative splicing in the central nervous system of transgenic mice harboring human SOD1 with G93A amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)-associated mutation. Since age is an important risk factor for ALS, we expanded the studies into younger animals (age 5 and 25 days). We also included cerebellum, a structure not studied in the context of neurodegeneration in ALS. We found decreased total tau-mRNA expression in hippocampus but not in cortex and spinal cord of young transgenics, and a lack of exon 10 in 5-day-old mice. In cerebellum, the total tau-mRNA expression was increased in transgenic animals during the whole period of life, however at the symptomatic stage of ALS (age 120 days) the level of protein was decreased.

It can be concluded that the SOD1 G93A mutation causes early alterations of tau expression in cns, which are not exclusively restricted to the upper and lower motor neuron.

Keywords

Tau expression Alternative splicing Transgenic mice Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Central nervous system Age 
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Notes

Acknowledgment

This study was supported by Polish-German project in neuroscience PBZ-MIN-001/P05/08 from the Polish Ministry of Science and Information Society Technologies.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2006

Authors and Affiliations

  • Anna Barańczyk-Kuźma
    • 1
  • Ewa Usarek
    • 1
  • Magdalena Kuźma-Kozakiewcz
    • 2
  • Beata Kaźmierczak
    • 1
  • Beata Gajewska
    • 1
  • Birgit Schwalenstocker
    • 3
  • Albert C. Ludolph
    • 3
  1. 1.Department of BiochemistryMedical University of WarsawWarsawPoland
  2. 2.Department of NeurologyMedical University of WarsawWarsawPoland
  3. 3.Department of NeurologyUniversity of UlmUlmGermany

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