BrightFocus Foundation
BrightFocus Foundation

Caspase-cleavage of Tau in Alzheimer's disease

Principal Investigator

Troy Rohn, PhD

Troy Rohn, PhD

Boise State University
Boise, ID
Acknowledgement
Partial funding for this award was from the Rick and Carol Terrell Charitable Fund

Co-Principal Investigator

Project Goals

Direct, functional evidence for the involvement of caspases in driving AD pathology is currently lacking. The current proposal will test directly the role of caspases in AD by blocking caspase activation in an AD transgenic mouse model and examining whether such inhibition prevents the pathology associated with these animals.

Project Summary


Introduction: Recent studies have suggested that proteolytic cleavage of tau by caspases may be an important event linking beta-amyloid with neurofibrillary tangles in Alzheimer's disease (AD). These studies suggest that caspase activation may play an important role in driving AD disease pathology and simply do not represent end-stage events associated with this disease. Hypothesis: Direct, functional evidence for the involvement of caspases in driving AD pathology is currently lacking. The current proposal will test directly the role of caspases in AD by blocking caspase activation in an AD transgenic mouse model and examining whether such inhibition prevents the pathology associated with these animals. Specific Aim 1: Crossing 3xTg-AD mice with Bcl-2 OE Tg mice will prevent the caspase cleavage of tau Specific Aim 2: Mice resulting from crossing 3xTg-AD mice with Bcl-2 OE Tg mice will exhibit fewer tangle alterations. Long-term goals: Direct evidence indicating a causative role for caspases in AD may stimulate the development of caspase inhibitors for their potential in treating this disease. In addition, results from this pilot study will provide the necessary feasibility and data for the development of a more comprehensive proposal examining all pathological aspects of these novel AD mice.

Publications

Rohn, T.T., and Head, E. (2009) Caspases as therapeutic targets in Alzheimer's disease: Is it time to 'cut' to the chase? Int. J. Clin. Exp. Pathol. (Invited Review, 2, 108-118).  

Kumasaka, D.K., Galvan, V., Head, E. and Rohn T.T. (2009). Caspase Cleavage of the Amyloid Precursor Protein is prevented After Overexpression of Bcl-2 in a Triple Transgenic Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease. Int J Physio Pathophysio Pharmacol 1(1):48-56  

Rohn, T.T. (2009). Cytoplasmic Inclusions of TDP-43 in Neurodegenerative Diseases: A Potential Role for Caspases. Histology and Histopathology (Invited Review, 24(8):1081-1086).  

Rohn, T.T. and Kokoulina, P. (2009). Caspase-cleaved TAR DNA-binding protein-43 in Pick's disease. Int, J. Physio. Pathophysio. Pharmacol. 1(1):25-32  

Rohn, T.T., Kokoulina, P., Eaton, C.R. and Poon, W.W. (2009). Caspase Activation in Transgenic Mice with Alzheimer-like Pathology: Results From a Pilot Study Utilizing The Caspase Inhibitor, Q-VD-OPh. Int J Clin Exp Med. 2009; 2(4): 300-308. Published online 2009 November 5  

Rohn, T.T. (2010). The Role of Caspases in Alzheimer's Disease; Potential Novel Therapeutic Opportunities. Invited Review, Apoptosis Journal, (Feb 3. [Epub ahead of print])  

Kokoulina, P. and Rohn, T.T. (2010). Caspase-cleaved TAR DNA-binding protein-43 in Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. Neurodegenerative Diseases, (In Press).[PMID:nd][link not available]

First published on: June 11, 2008

Last modified on: May 18, 2024