Cited by 106Alzheimer's disease research and treatmentsMemory and Neural MechanismsAnimal Genetics and Reproduction

Strain Background Influences Neurotoxicity and Behavioral Abnormalities in Mice Expressing the Tetracycline Transactivator

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Han, H. J., Allen, C. C., Buchovecky, C. M., Yetman, M. J., Born, H. A., Marin, M. A., Rodgers, S. P., Song, B. J. +4 more·2012·Journal of Neuroscience

Abstract

The tet-off system has been widely used to create transgenic models of neurological disorders including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's, and prion disease. The utility of this system lies in the assumption that the tetracycline transactivator (TTA) acts as an inert control element and does not contribute to phenotypes under study. Here we report that neuronal expression of TTA can affect hippocampal cytoarchitecture and behavior in a strain-dependent manner. While studying neurodegeneration in two tet-off Alzheimer's disease models, we unexpectedly discovered neuronal loss within the dentate gyrus of single transgenic TTA controls. Granule neurons appeared most sensitive to TTA exposure during postnatal development, and doxycycline treatment during this period was neuroprotective. TTA-induced degeneration could be rescued by moving the transgene onto a congenic C57BL/6J background and recurred on reintroduction of either CBA or C3H/He backgrounds. Quantitative trait analysis of B6C3 F2 TTA mice identified a region on Chromosome 14 that contains a major modifier of the neurodegenerative phenotype. Although B6 mice were resistant to degeneration, they were not ideal for cognitive testing. F1 offspring of TTA C57BL/6J and 129X1/SvJ, FVB/NJ, or DBA/1J showed improved spatial learning, but TTA expression caused subtle differences in contextual fear conditioning on two of these backgrounds, indicating that strain and genotype can interact independently under different behavioral settings. All model systems have limitations that should be recognized and mitigated where possible; our findings stress the importance of mapping the effects caused by TTA alone when working with tet-off models.

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Crossref · 10.1523/jneurosci.0893-12.2012

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  • The severity of toxic side-effects of tTA and rtTA depends on the genetic background of the animal and possibly also on the (r)tTA version used.

    “The severity of these effects depends on the genetic background of the animal and possibly also on the (r)tTA version used.”

    From Tet-On Systems For Doxycycline-inducible Gene Expression (2016) · cites this paper as [82]

    The Discussion (page unavailable) identifies genetic background as a significant determinant of tTA-induced neurodegeneration and describes a similar strain-dependent effect reported for rtTA. It links both proteins to toxic effects, but does not say that the severity of those effects depends on which tTA or rtTA version is used. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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  • In transgenic mice, toxic side-effects of tTA and rtTA have been reported.

    “In transgenic mice, toxic side-effects of tTA and rtTA have also been reported [79-83].”

    From Tet-On Systems For Doxycycline-inducible Gene Expression (2016) · cites this paper as [82]

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Saito H Yoshida T Yamazaki H Suzuki N 2007 Conditional N-rasG12V expression promotes manifestations of neurofibromatosis in a mouse model Oncogene 26 4714 4719 17237809

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Authors
Han, H. J., Allen, C. C., Buchovecky, C. M., Yetman, M. J., Born, H. A., Marin, M. A., Rodgers, S. P., Song, B. J., Lu, H.-C., Justice, M. J., Probst, F. J., & Jankowsky, J. L.
Affiliations
Baylor College of Medicine (US)
Corresponding author
Jankowsky, J. L.
Venue
Journal of Neuroscience
Published
2012-08-01
Volume
32
Issue
31
Pages
10574-10586
ISSN
  • 0270-6474 (ISSN-L)
  • 1529-2401
OpenAlex
W2079978524
Cited by
105
References
60
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 3
FWCI
2.79
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (DP2OD001734, OD001734)
  • National Institute on Aging (32-AG000183, K01AG026144, T32AG000183, AG026144)
  • National Institute of General Medical Sciences (T32GM008307)
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01NS048884)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Animal Genetics and Reproduction
Keywords
tetracycline transactivator, Tet-off system, neurodegeneration, dentate gyrus granule cells, spatial learning, contextual fear conditioning, genetic modifiers, chromosome 14, transgenic mouse model
MeSH terms
Analysis of Variance, Animals, Anti-Bacterial Agents, Mental Disorders, Chromosome Mapping, Conditioning, Psychological, Disease Models, Animal, Doxycycline, Exploratory Behavior, Fear, Female, Male, Mice, Inbred CBA, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Mice, Transgenic, Mutation, Species Specificity, Tetracycline, Trans-Activators, Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor, tau Proteins, Maze Learning, Dentate Gyrus, Neurotoxicity Syndromes, Mice, Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase Type 2

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