Epigenetic basis of Alzheimer disease

Table 1 Mouse models used for the study of Alzheimer disease

Strain	Promoter used	Proteins expressed	Pathogeny	Ref.
3xTG–AD	Thy1 and mPS1	Mutant of APP (hAPP695, Swedish mutation), PS1 (PSEN1, M146V) and tau (hTau-4R0N, P301L)	Mice containing these mutations develop β-amyloid plaques and NFTs resembling the brain with AD	[36,60,96,97]
CK-p25	tetO (tet operator)	These mice overexpress the truncated form of p35, p25	p25 activates CDK5 (cyclin-dependent kinase 5), implicated in AD. CK-p25 mice develop neuronal loss, β-amyloid accumulation and loss of synaptic terminations in the hippocampus and cortex as well as memory deficits	[57,98,99]
APPPS 1-21 /HDAC6–/– crossbred	Thy1	Mutated APP (KM670/671NL) and the mutated presenilin 1 (L166P)	Mice develop β-amyloid plaques leading to cerebral amyloidosis, dystrophic synaptic boutons, hyper-phosphorylated tau, inflammatory responses and the impairment of cognitive function	[64,100,101]
TgCRND8	Hamster PrP	hAPP695 Swe/Ind	The brain of mice contains plaques formed by depositions of β-amyloid, leading to inflammation and cognitive impairments. There is also neuronal loss, accumulation of NFTs, and neuritic changes similar to those observed in AD	[93,102,103]
Tg19959	Hamster PrP	hAPP695 with two familial mutations (Swedish and Indiana mutations: K670N/M671L and V717F, respectively). (FVB X 129S6F1 background)	Mice overexpress β-amyloid 1-42 peptide and Bace1 forming plaques	[5,93,102,104]
Tg2576-APPswe crossbred	Hamster PrP and Mouse PrP	The Swedish mutation (hAPP695) and m/hAPP6953 (extra and intracellular regions of mouse β-amyloid, a human β-amyloid sequence and the Swedish mutations of β-amyloid, K594N/M595L)	These mice develop β-amyloid plaques deposition and memory deficits	[94,105,106]
APP/PSI	Thy	Mutated APP (KM670/671 NL) and mutated presenilin 1 (L166P)	Mice show dystrophic synaptic, hyperphosphorylation of tau, gliosis, and neuronal loss in the dentate gyrus as well as impairment in reversal learning	[95,101]

NFT: Neurofibrillary tangles; APP: β-amyloid precursor protein; PSEN: Presenilin; HDAC: Histone deacetyltransferase; 3xTG: Triple transgenic; AD: Alzheimer disease.