Here, we demonstrate that MAPT p.R406W is sufficient to induce changes in GABA-mediated signaling and synaptic function, which may contribute to the pathogenesis of FTLD-tau and other primary tauopathies.
Interestingly, FTLD-tau cases with MAPT mutations had similar patterns and severity of neuropathological features to sporadic FTLD-tau subtypes and could be classified into: Pick's disease (K257T), corticobasal degeneration (S305S, IVS10+16, R406W), progressive supranuclear palsy (S305S) or globular glial tauopathy (P301L, IVS10+16).
To evaluate whether tauopathies alter the GABAergic SHP, we analyzed transgenic mice expressing human mutated Tau (mutations G272V, P301L, and R406W, VLW transgenic strain).
To gain more insights into the pathomechanism of tauopathies, we performed an RNAi-based large-scale screen in Drosophila melanogaster to identify genetic modifiers of Tau[R406W]-induced toxicity.
Mutant R406W human tau was originally identified in frontotemporal dementia and parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17 (FTDP-17) and causes a hereditary tauopathy that clinically resembles Alzheimer's disease (AD).
To examine the effects of tau gene mutations and the role of tau abnormalities in neurodegenerative tauopathies, transgenic (Tg) mice were engineered to express the longest human tau isoform (T40) with or without the R406W mutation (RW and hWT Tg mice, respectively) that is pathogenic for FTDP-17 in several kindreds.
The R406W tau mutation found in frontotemporal dementia and parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17 (FTDP-17) causes a hereditary tauopathy clinically resembling Alzheimer's disease.