Yamashita Akiko, Fuchs Eberhard, Taira Masato, Hayashi Motoharu
Division of Applied System Neuroscience, Department of Advanced Medical Science, Nihon University School of Medicine, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
Curr Aging Sci. 2010 Dec;3(3):230-8. doi: 10.2174/1874609811003030230.
Amyloid beta (Aβ) accumulates in the human brain in an age-dependent manner during normal aging. However, Aβ accumulation has not been observed in rodents during normal aging. Tree shrews, the experimental animals studied here, are as small as rats but have a longer life span than rodents.
We investigated Aβ accumulations in the brains of young and aged tree shrews by amyloid histochemistry and immunohistochemistry using antibodies to Aβ-42, Aβ-40, Aβ-16 and amyloid precursor protein (APP).
In the brain of young tree shrews, there were no Aβ- immunoreactive (-ir) and APP-ir profiles. In the brains of aged tree shrews, Aβ-42-ir neuronal profiles were observed in the cortex, subiculum, basal ganglia, mammillary body and hypothalamus, but there were only a few weak Congo red-positive amyloid deposits. Aβ-42-, Aβ-40-, Aβ-16- and APP-ir blood vessels were observed.
An early stage of amyloid accumulation occurs in the brains of aged tree shrews, indicating that this animal may be a good model for studying the start of Aβ accumulation.
在正常衰老过程中，β淀粉样蛋白（Aβ）在人类大脑中以年龄依赖性方式积累。然而，在正常衰老的啮齿动物中未观察到Aβ积累。树鼩，即此处研究的实验动物，体型与大鼠一样小，但寿命比啮齿动物长。
我们使用针对Aβ-42、Aβ-40、Aβ-16和淀粉样前体蛋白（APP）的抗体，通过淀粉样蛋白组织化学和免疫组织化学研究了年轻和老年树鼩大脑中的Aβ积累情况。
在年轻树鼩的大脑中，未观察到Aβ免疫反应性（-ir）和APP-ir图谱。在老年树鼩的大脑中，在皮质、海马下托、基底神经节、乳头体和下丘脑观察到Aβ-42-ir神经元图谱，但只有少数弱阳性刚果红阳性淀粉样沉积物。观察到Aβ-42-、Aβ-40-、Aβ-16-和APP-ir血管。
老年树鼩大脑中出现了淀粉样蛋白积累的早期阶段，表明这种动物可能是研究Aβ积累起始的良好模型。
