Affiliations: [a] Molecular Imaging Center, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba-shi, Chiba, Japan | [b] Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Disease, Department of Neuroscience, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA | [c] Department of Translational Science and Molecular Medicine, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Grand Rapids, MI, USA
Correspondence:
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Correspondence to: Naruhiko Sahara, PhD, Molecular Imaging Center, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-ku, Chiba-shi, Chiba 263-8555, Japan. Tel.: +81 43 206 3251; Fax: +81 43 253 0396; E-mail: [email protected].
Abstract: The discovery of tau mutations in frontotemporal dementia has been a key event in neurodegenerative disease research. The rTg4510 mouse line expressing human tau with P301L FTDP-17-tau mutation has been established to understand the role of tau in neurodegeneration. Our histological analyses with tau antibodies and fluorescent tau ligands on rTg4510 mice revealed that tau oligomer formation was distinct from tangle formation. While in vivo imaging of mature tangles is now available, imaging biomarkers for tau oligomers would be useful for clarifying their roles in neurotoxicity and for diagnosing early-stage tau pathology.
Keywords: Antibody, tau ligand, tau oligomers, tau protein, transgenic mice
