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Characterization of tauopathy in the ponto‐medullary brainstem nuclei of aged Tau‐P301L mice (728.7)
Author(s) -
Stanic Davor,
Bautista Tara,
Dutschmann Mathias
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.28.1_supplement.728.7
Subject(s) - tauopathy , neurodegeneration , brainstem , neuroscience , swallowing , neurofibrillary tangle , pathology , nucleus ambiguus , biology , dementia , progressive supranuclear palsy , medicine , alzheimer's disease , atrophy , disease , medulla oblongata , central nervous system , dentistry , senile plaques
Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and dementia, are often linked to swallowing disorders such that aspiration pneumonia resulting from accidental inhalation of ingested material is a common phenomenon. Growing evidence suggests that malfunction in the coordination of swallowing and breathing leads to increased risk of aspiration. We investigated the underlying pathology linking dementia and swallowing dysfunction in Tau‐P301L transgenic mice, an established mouse model of neurodegeneration. Tauopathy and neurofibrillary tangle‐related neuropathological morphology in the brainstem of 10‐month old Tau‐P301L mice was identified by immunohistochemistry using antisera against: 1) pre‐neurofibrillary tangles (Tau phosphoThreonin 231); and 2) extra‐neuronal neurofibrillary tangles (Tau phosphoSerine 199/202). Cell bodies containing diffuse phospho‐tau‐immunoreactivity within the cytoplasm, together with preserved, collapsed or absent dendrites were identified in the Kölliker‐Fuse (KF) nucleus, ventral swallowing group (VSG) dorsomedial to the nucleus ambiguus, and nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS), regions known to co‐ordinate breathing and swallowing. Our results suggest that neurons in the KF, VSG and NTS are susceptible to neurodegeneration, and provide a platform for examining the effect of tauopathy in functionally defined and experimentally controllable brainstem circuits (for swallowing and breathing). This may facilitate a framework for the development of potential drug therapies for neuroprotection and prevention of aspiration and dementia. Grant Funding Source : ARC