Hyperexcitability and epileptic seizures in a model of frontotemporal dementia

Neurobiology of Disease

卷:58

José M. Serratosa¹  María Llorens-Martín¹  Rosa Guerrero-López¹  Marina P. Sánchez²  Beatriz G. Giráldez³  Ana M. García-Cabrero³  Jesús Ávila³ 

[1]Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Madrid, Spain

[2]|Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa, CSIC/UAM, C. Nicolás Cabrera 1, 28049 Madrid, Spain

[3]|Laboratory of Neurology, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Ave. Reyes Católicos 2, 28040 Madrid, Spain

关键词: FTDP-17 tau mutations;    Hyperphosphorylated tau aggregates;    Astrocytosis;    Microgliosis;    Epilepsy;    Chemoconvulsant;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Epileptic seizures are more common in patients with Alzheimer disease than in the general elderly population. Abnormal forms of hyperphosphorylated tau accumulate in Alzheimer disease and other tauopathies. Aggregates of tau are also found in patients with epilepsy and in experimental models of epilepsy. We report here the analysis of epileptic activity and neuropathological correlates of a transgenic line over-expressing human mutant tau, a model of frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17 (FTDP-17). The FTDP-17 model displays spontaneous epileptic activity and seizures with spike-wave complexes in the EEG, and a higher sensitivity to the GABAA receptor antagonist pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) when compared to age-matched controls, showing a notably increased seizure length and a shorter latency to develop severe seizures. FTDP-17 human tau mutants also display lower convulsive thresholds and higher lethality after PTZ injections. Astrocytosis and activated microglia are prominent in the hippocampus and other brain regions of young FTDP-17 mice where the human mutant tau transgene is expressed, before the appearance of hyperphosphorylated tau aggregates in these structures. FTDP-17 human mutant tau over-expression produces epilepsy and increased GABAA receptor-mediated hyperexcitability in the absence of Aβ pathology. Although aggregates of hyperphosphorylated tau have been observed in patients with epilepsy and in different chemically and electrically generated models of epilepsy, the FTDP-17 tau mutant analyzed here is the first model of genetically modified tau that presents with epilepsy. This model may represent a valuable tool to assay novel treatments in order to reduce tau pathology, a potential factor which may be involved in the development of epileptic seizures in dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases.

【 授权许可】

Unknown