BACKGROUND

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive memory loss, possibly triggered by the accumulation of beta-amyloid (Abeta) peptides and the hyperphosphorylation of Tau neurofilament protein. Recent findings have shown that transthyretin (TTR) is a potent scavenger of Abeta peptide deposits, suggesting a possible neuroprotective role for TTR in neurodegenerative processes associated with amyloidogenesis, such as AD.

METHODS

To investigate the relationship between TTR and Abeta deposition, we crossed mouse carrying a deletion of TTR (TTR(- or -)) with a transgenic mouse model of AD (TgCRND8), and Abeta burden and spatial learning capacities were evaluated at 4 and 6 months of age (exclusion of the 6 month-old TgCRND8/TTR(- or -) group due to low survival rate).

RESULTS

Rather surprisingly, Abeta plaque burden was significantly reduced in the hippocampus of 4-month-old TgCRND8/TTR(+ or -), and to a lesser extent in TgCRND8/TTR(- or -), as compared to age-matched TgCRND8/TTR(+ or +). No difference in plaque burden was found between any groups in 6-month-old animals. At 4 and 6 months of age, all populations of these hybrid transgenic mice displayed similar magnitude of spatial memory deficits in the Morris water maze task.

CONCLUSION

Since TgCRND8 mice represent an aggressive model of Abeta deposition with plaques developing as early as 3 months of age, along with spatial learning deficits, it may be already too late at 4 and 6 months of age to observe significant changes due to the deletion of the TTR gene.