[O2–14–06]: UNILATERAL FOCUSED ULTRASOUND‐INDUCED BLOOD‐BRAIN BARRIER OPENING RE‐DISTRIBUTES HYPERPHOSPHORYLATED TAU IN AN ALZHEIMER's MOUSE MODEL
Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: Focused ultrasound has been shown to interact with Alzheimer's pathology and particularly to trigger a mechanism that results in the reduction of the amyloid plaque load. However, a less studied interaction is that of ultrasound with hyperphosphorylated tau protein. At the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, tau protein can be localized primarily in the axons while in late pathology, somatodendritic tau is more pronounced. With the current study we investigate the interaction of focused ultrasound-induced blood-brain barrier opening with the tau distribution. For this study the initial cohort included 10 mice of the rTg4510 line (3.5 months old), 5 of which received a hippocampal sonication once per week for 4 consecutive weeks, and 5 mice 4.6 months old. The day after the last sonication the mice were sacrificed and counter-stained for tau protein (AT8) and microglia activation (CD68). A custom algorithm was constructed to quantify the number of cells by employing the Hough transformation. The axonal distribution of the tau-marker and the CD68 density were assessed by intensity-based quantification. Figure 1 shows representative examples of the control (5.6 and 4.5 months old) and the treated (4.5 months old) groups. Quantification of the cell bodies affected by tau protein showed similar degree of magnitude between the treated and the same age control group while the 5.6 months old control group encountered a 60% increase in cell number. Moreover, density quantification of the somatodendritic and axonal tau showed that there was a 60% reduction of the protein expression in the treated group. Differences across hemispheres were only detected in the treated group.
Source: Alzheimer s & Dementia
Language: English
Subfield: Physiology (medical)
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2765699236