Endogenous Murine Amyloid-β Peptide Assembles into Aggregates in the Aged C57BL/6J Mouse Suggesting These Animals as a Model to Study Pathogenesis of Amyloid-β Plaque Formation

Amyloid-beta peptide (A beta), paired helical filament-tau (PHF-tau), and alpha-synuclein are in the focus of neuroscience research because they aggregate in brains of patients with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. For this purpose, transgenic mouse models were used containing the human genes for A beta PP/presenilin/tau or alpha-synuclein with the most frequent mutations. This is not ideal because most patients develop sporadic forms of the diseases with no causative single gene defect and furthermore the aggregation of human proteins in man is not necessarily the same in rodents. We hypothesized that for such cases the aged mouse could be an alternative model and analyzed the distribution of endogenous A beta, PHF-tau, and alpha-synuclein in mouse brains at different ages. Whereas A beta was below detectable levels at birth, it was present at high levels in the 15-month-old mouse. A beta was found in the cytosol and lysosomes of neurons of the temporal cortex, cingulate area, pons, and cerebellum as well as extracellularly in the periventricular zone. Contrary to A beta, mouse brain was devoid of PHF-tau-positive neurofibrillary tangles. alpha-Synuclein was detectable in the newborn mouse with highest levels in the marginal zone of the lateral cortex and average levels in the hippocampus, pons, and cerebellum. Brain-area specific differences in the alpha-synuclein level persisted up to 15 months of age, but increased 3-fold in all areas over time. alpha-Synuclein resided in the neuropil, but not in intracellular aggregates even in the aged mouse. We suggest the aged mouse as a model to study A beta plaque formation.