Developmental exposure to lead (Pb) alters the expression of the human tau gene and its products in a transgenic animal model.

ABSTRACT: Tauopathies are a class of neurodegenerative diseases associated with the pathological aggregation of the tau protein in the human brain. The best known of these illnesses is Alzheimer's disease (AD); a disease where the microtubule associated protein tau (MAPT) becomes hyperphosphorylated (lowering its binding affinity to microtubules) and aggregates within neurons in the form of neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs). In this paper we examine whether environmental factors play a significant role in tau pathogenesis. Our studies were conducted in a double mutant mouse model that expressed the human tau gene and lacked the gene for murine tau. The human tau mouse model was tested for the transgene's ability to respond to an environmental toxicant. Pups were developmentally exposed to lead (Pb) fro

SUBMITTER: Dash M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5738909 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature