Aging Brain (Jan 2022)

Cerebral Aβ deposition in an Aβ-precursor protein-transgenic rhesus monkey

  • Anthony W.S. Chan,
  • In Ki Cho,
  • Chun-Xia Li,
  • Xiaodong Zhang,
  • Sudeep Patel,
  • Rebecca Rusnak,
  • Jessica Raper,
  • Jocelyne Bachevalier,
  • Sean P. Moran,
  • Tim Chi,
  • Katherine H. Cannon,
  • Carissa E. Hunter,
  • Ryan C. Martin,
  • Hailian Xiao,
  • Shang-Hsun Yang,
  • Sanjeev Gumber,
  • James G. Herndon,
  • Rebecca F. Rosen,
  • William T. Hu,
  • James J. Lah,
  • Allan I. Levey,
  • Yoland Smith,
  • Lary C. Walker

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 2
p. 100044

Abstract

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With the ultimate goal of developing a more representative animal model of Alzheimer's disease (AD), two female amyloid-β-(Aβ) precursor protein-transgenic (APPtg) rhesus monkeys were generated by lentiviral transduction of the APP gene into rhesus oocytes, followed by in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer. The APP-transgene included the AD-associated Swedish K670N/M671L and Indiana V717F mutations (APPSWE/IND) regulated by the human polyubiquitin-C promoter. Overexpression of APP was confirmed in lymphocytes and brain tissue. Upon sacrifice at 10 years of age, one of the monkeys had developed Aβ plaques and cerebral Aβ-amyloid angiopathy in the occipital, parietal, and caudal temporal neocortices. The induction of Aβ deposition more than a decade prior to its usual emergence in the rhesus monkey supports the feasibility of creating a transgenic nonhuman primate model for mechanistic analyses and preclinical testing of treatments for Alzheimer's disease and cerebrovascular amyloidosis.

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