Posted 6 March 2005

General Information

Transgene: cDNA construct containing the longest human brain tau isoform (T40) (hWT tau) was cloned into the mouse prion promoter (MoPrP.Xho) expression vector at the XhoI site. A 15.3 kb NotI fragment containing T40, the MoPrP promoter, together with its 3' and 5' untranslated sequences, was microinjected into fertilized C57BL6 x C3H (B6C3/F1) mouse eggs and then implanted into pseudopregnant females. Two lines of hWT tau Tg mice (lines 1 and 23) that stably expressed the T40 human tau isoform were identified. Most experiments performed on line 23.

Mutation: human WT tau mutation

Promoter: Mouse prion protein promoter (MoPrP)

Mouse Strain: B6C3

Phenotype

Neuropathological Analysis:

Human Tau expression is 8-10 times higher than endogenous tau in line 23. No age-dependent accumulation of tau aggregates, no neurodegeneration.

Behavioral:

90% survive to 24 months

Availability

Contact: Virginia M-Y Lee
The Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Institute on Aging, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Phone: 215-662-6427
Fax: 215-349-5909
Email: vmylee@mail.med.upenn.edu

Patents:

References

Primary:

Zhang B, Higuchi M, Yoshiyama Y, Ishihara T, Forman M S, Martinez D, Joyce S, Trojanowski J Q, Lee V M-Y. Retarded Axonal Transport of R406W Mutant Tau in Transgenic Mice with a Neurodegenerative Tauopathy. J Neurosci. 24(19):4657-4667, 2004. Abstract.