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The Journal of Neuroscience, May 10, 2006, 26(19):5083-5090; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0604-06.2006

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Neurobiology of Disease
Full Reversal of Alzheimer's Disease-Like Phenotype in a Mouse Model with Conditional Overexpression of Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3

Tobias Engel, Félix Hernández, Jesús Avila, and José J. Lucas

Centro de Biología Molecular "Severo Ochoa," Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas/Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain

Correspondence should be addressed to José J. Lucas, Centro de Biología Molecular "Severo Ochoa," Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas/Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain. Email: jjlucas{at}cbm.uam.es

Glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) is a ubiquitously expressed serine/threonine kinase that is particularly abundant in the CNS. Dysregulation of GSK-3 activity is believed to play a key role in the pathogenesis of CNS chronic disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), bipolar disorder, and Huntington's disease, and of metabolic disorders such as type II diabetes. Accordingly, GSK-3 inhibitors have been postulated as therapeutic tools for these diseases. Interestingly, pathophysiological and pharmacological regulation of GSK-3 is affected by an amplification mechanism that applies both to inhibition and activation. The possibility therefore exists that sustained inhibition or activation might persist after cessation of the initial trigger. Regarding AD, GSK-3 has been shown to accumulate in pretangle neurons. Furthermore, GSK-3 phosphorylates tau in most serine and threonine residues hyperphosphorylated in PHF (paired helical filament)-tau and GSK-3 activity contributes both to -amyloid production and to -amyloid-mediated neuronal death. In good agreement, mice with conditional overexpression of GSK-3 in forebrain neurons (Tet/GSK-3 mice) recapitulate aspects of AD neuropathology such as tau hyperphosphorylation, apoptotic neuronal death, and reactive astrocytosis as well as spatial learning deficit. Here, we exploit the conditional system used to generate Tet/GSK-3 mice to explore whether the biochemical, histopathological, and behavioral consequences of increased GSK-3 activity are susceptible to revert after restoration of normal GSK-3 levels. Here, we show that transgene shutdown in symptomatic mice leads to normal GSK-3 activity, normal phospho-tau levels, diminished neuronal death, and suppression of the cognitive deficit, thus further supporting the potential of GSK-3 inhibitors for AD therapeutics.

Key words: GSK-3; Alzheimer's disease; reversal; conditional mouse model; tau; apoptosis; object recognition task

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Received Dec. 12, 2005; accepted March 12, 2006.

Correspondence should be addressed to José J. Lucas, Centro de Biología Molecular "Severo Ochoa," Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas/Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain. Email: jjlucas{at}cbm.uam.es

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