Author:

Abstract:

Tau transgenic mice are valuable models to investigate the role of tau protein in Alzheimer’s disease and other tauopathies. We generated a new tau transgenic (Tg) mouse model (THY-Tau22) exhibiting progressive neuron-specific AD-like Tau pathology devoid of any motor deficits (Schindowski et al., 2006). We report here that in 9 to 10 month old THY-Tau22 mice tau was hyperphosphorylated at several sites as seen in AD brain, and that these mice displayed hippocampus-related impairment in learning and memory and synaptic plasticity. We analyzed the THY-Tau22 transgenic mouse model using different behavioural paradigms assessing spatial, visual, social, and contextual learning and memory. Furthermore, hippocampal synaptic functioning as measured by a novel LTD-paradigm was also impaired in THY-Tau22 animals. These results indicate that tau transgenic mice, such as the THY-Tau22 strain, may not only be useful for studying the consequences of pathological tau aggregation on cognitive and neuronal functioning, but also for providing models of specific diseases for assessing potential therapeutic agents.