Although aggregates of hyperphosphorylated tau have been observed in patients with epilepsy and in different chemically and electrically generated models of epilepsy, the FTDP-17 tau mutant analyzed here is the first model of genetically modified tau that presents with epilepsy.
Mutations in the MAPT gene, which encodes the tau protein, are associated with several neurodegenerative diseases, including frontotemporal dementia (FTD), dementia with epilepsy, and other types of dementia.
N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors mediate epilepsy-induced axonal impairment and tau phosphorylation via activating glycogen synthase kinase-3β and cyclin-dependent kinase 5.