Posted 19 December 2004

General Information

Transgene: T-N279K mice were created by microinjection of a minigene comprised of all of the human CNS expressed exons and intronic sequences surrounding exons 2, 3 and 10. The mice express human tau protein at the same level as endogenous mouse tau protein.

Mutation: N279K

Promoter: Human tau

Mouse Strain: Origin: C57BL/6 x SJL hybrids

Phenotype

Neuropathological Analysis:

Numerous abnormal tau and phospho-tau reactive neurons and glia. The pathology resembles that seen in patients with the N279K mutation to include tau positive tufted astrocytes. Molecularly, tau isoforms are expressed almost exclusively with exon in the adult mice as seen in patients with the mutation.

Behavioral:

Mice are cognitively impaired on the radial arm water maze at 52 weeks. A percentage of the mice develop motor deficits leading to hind limb paralysis and early demise.

Availability

Hana Dawson
Division of Neurology, Dept of Medicine
Duke University, Box 2900 DUMC,
Durham NC 27710
Phone: 919 684 5453
Fax: 919 684 6514
Email: dawso009@mc.duke.edu

Patents:

References

Primary:

Unpublished.