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Ovariectomy increases the age-induced hyperphosphorylation of Tau at hippocampal CA1

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Abstract

One of the main hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease includes the neurofibrillary tangles formation produced by hyperphosphorylation of the Tau protein, whose expression is putatively regulated by the ovarian hormones estradiol and progesterone. Hippocampus is a brain region that participates in many functions related to learning and memory; in addition, it is abundant in both estradiol and progesterone receptors. In this study, we explore the expression of Tau hyperphosphorylation at hippocampus and the performance of rats in an autoshaping learning task at 5, 10 and 15 months after the ovaries removal. In these animals, ovariectomy was performed at 3 months of age. These data were compared with those derived from intact rats at 8, 13 and 18 months old. A clear decrease in the number of conditioned responses of both intact and ovariectomized rats in the autoshaping learning task was observed. The interaction of both factors confirms that, in this test, learning varies depending on aging and the presence or absence of ovaries. A progressive increase in hippocampal Tau phosphorylation at Ser-396 was observed in either intact or ovariectomized rats. Interestingly, an interaction between the analyzed factors shows that such hyperphosphorylation was potentiated by the absence of ovaries. These results emphasize the importance of aging and the lack of ovarian hormones for an associative learning test and for the expression of one of the most important hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Nielsine Nielsen for reviewing the use of English in the manuscript. This study was partially supported by COFAA and SIP-IPN.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Escuela Superior de Medicina, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Plan de San Luis y Díaz Mirón Col. Sto. Tomás, 11340, Mexico, DF, Mexico

    O. Picazo & J. Espinosa-Raya

  2. Facultad de Medicina Humana, Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas (UNACH), Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico

    A. Briones-Aranda

  3. Facultad de Química, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510, Mexico, DF, Mexico

    M. Cerbón

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  1. O. Picazo
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  2. J. Espinosa-Raya
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  4. M. Cerbón
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Correspondence to O. Picazo.

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Handling editor: Elsa Addessi (ISTC-CNR, Rome)

Reviewers: Junming Wang (University of Mississippi Medical Center), Quanguang Zhang (Augusta University, USA), Li Chuhua (South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China).

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Picazo, O., Espinosa-Raya, J., Briones-Aranda, A. et al. Ovariectomy increases the age-induced hyperphosphorylation of Tau at hippocampal CA1. Cogn Process 17, 443–449 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-016-0768-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-016-0768-3

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