Cited by 793Alzheimer's disease research and treatmentsDementia and Cognitive Impairment ResearchNeuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms

APP mouse models for Alzheimer’s disease preclinical studies.

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Sasaguri, Hiroki, Nilsson, Per, Hashimoto, Shoko, Nagata, Kenichi, Saito, Takashi, De Strooper, Bart, Hardy, John, Vassar, Robert +2 more·2017·The EMBO Journal

Abstract

Abstract Animal models of human diseases that accurately recapitulate clinical pathology are indispensable for understanding molecular mechanisms and advancing preclinical studies. The Alzheimer's disease (AD) research community has historically used first‐generation transgenic (Tg) mouse models that overexpress proteins linked to familial AD (FAD), mutant amyloid precursor protein (APP), or APP and presenilin (PS). These mice exhibit AD pathology, but the overexpression paradigm may cause additional phenotypes unrelated to AD. Second‐generation mouse models contain humanized sequences and clinical mutations in the endogenous mouse App gene. These mice show Aβ accumulation without phenotypes related to overexpression but are not yet a clinical recapitulation of human AD. In this review, we evaluate different APP mouse models of AD, and review recent studies using the second‐generation mice. We advise AD researchers to consider the comparative strengths and limitations of each model against the scientific and therapeutic goal of a prospective preclinical study.

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Crossref · 10.15252/embj.201797397

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  • The general behavioral phenotypes of App-KI mice described in many published studies are minimal, with the exception of robust alterations in emotional domains.

    “However, the general behavioral phenotypes of App-KI mice described in many published studies are minimal [9], with the exception of robust alterations in emotional domains [14, 21, 22].”

    From Amyloid-β plaque formation and reactive gliosis are required for induction of cognitive deficits in App knock-in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease (2019) · cites this paper as [9]

    The citation to this paper [9] supports the claim that App-KI mice generally have minimal behavioral phenotypes; the emotional-domain exception is cited to other sources. In “Second-generation mouse models” (page unavailable), the paper instead reports various cognitive dysfunctions in App NL-F mice, including spatial-memory, learning, and attention deficits, and greater cognitive abnormalities in App NL-G-F mice. (LLM, conf=0.76)

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  • Parental lines rely on transgenic overexpression of familial AD or FTD mutations and do not fully recapitulate the slow accumulation of amyloid and tau in humans.

    “First, although 5XFAD;PS19 provides an experimentally tractable system for studying Aβ–tau interactions, parental lines rely on transgenic overexpression of familial AD or frontotemporal dementia (FTD) mutations and do not fully recapitulate the slow accumulation of amyloid and tau in humans. 70 , 71”

    From Unique transcriptomic alterations in 5XFAD;PS19 mouse model identify glial lipid dysregulation and coordinated microglial–oligodendrocyte responses (2026) · cites this paper as [70]

    The First-generation mouse models section identifies 5XFAD as carrying APP and PS1 familial-AD transgenes, and describes overexpressed mutant tau in another model as deriving from frontotemporal dementia rather than AD. It reports Aβ pathology in 5XFAD by two months, while the Limitations of second-generation mouse models section says human Aβ amyloidosis may take more than two decades to induce cortical tauopathy. Our copy does not identify PS19 specifically, so it does not establish that both parental lines have the stated characteristics. (LLM, conf=0.82)

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  • These mouse models suffered from potential off-target effects caused by non-physiological overexpression of APP/PSEN1 genes and/or combinations of familial AD mutations, which are not observed in AD patients.

    “they also suffered from potential off-target effects caused by either non-physiological overexpression of APP/PSEN1 genes and/or combinations of familial AD mutations, which are not observed in AD patients [2, 9].”

    From Amyloid-β plaque formation and reactive gliosis are required for induction of cognitive deficits in App knock-in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease (2019) · cites this paper as [9]

    The “Limitations of first-generation mouse models” section warns that APP or APP/PS overexpression can produce artifacts and phenotypes outside normal disease pathology. The paper also describes models combining several familial AD mutations, but the cited passages do not establish that those combinations are never observed in AD patients or that the combinations themselves cause the asserted off-target effects. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.83)

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  • These studies all suffer because they exhibit artifacts arising from the over-expression APP (WT or mutant) and in some cases mutant presenilins.

    “These studies all suffer because they exhibit artifacts arising from the over-expression APP (WT or mutant) and in some cases mutant presenilins (Balducci and Forloni, 2011; Saito et al., 2014; Sasaguri et al., 2017).”

    From β-amyloid accumulation enhances microtubule associated protein tau pathology in an APPNL-G-F/MAPTP301S mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease (2024) · cites this paper as Sasaguri et al., 2017

    The ‘Limitations of first-generation mouse models’ section says APP overexpression produces additional APP fragments and warns that some phenotypes might result from APP or APP/PS overexpression rather than normal disease pathology. This supports the concern about artifacts, including in models involving presenilin, but the paper describes potential effects in some models; it does not establish that all the studies exhibit such artifacts. (LLM, conf=0.85)

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  • The patterns of labeling of Aβ and MAPT are consistent with prior studies of APPNL-G-F and P301S MAPT mice.

    “These patterns of labeling or Aβ and MAPT are consistent with prior studies of APPNL-G-F and P301S MAPT mice (Yoshiyama et al., 2007; Saito et al., 2014; Sasaguri et al., 2017; Apicco et al., 2018).”

    From β-amyloid accumulation enhances microtubule associated protein tau pathology in an APPNL-G-F/MAPTP301S mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease (2024) · cites this paper as Sasaguri et al., 2017

    The Modeling preclinical AD section shows Aβ labeling in the cortex of an App NL-G-F mouse, and the Second-generation mouse models section describes amyloid pathology in that model. The paper does not describe labeling patterns in P301S MAPT mice; its discussion of tau models concerns other mutations. It therefore supports the Aβ-model portion, but not the attributed MAPT-model comparison. (LLM, conf=0.85)

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Authors
Sasaguri, H., Nilsson, P., Hashimoto, S., Nagata, K., Saito, T., De Strooper, B., Hardy, J., Vassar, R., Winblad, B., & Saido, T. C.
Affiliations
  • Tokyo Medical and Dental University (JP)
  • RIKEN Center for Brain Science (JP)
  • UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology (GB)
  • Northwestern University (US)
  • Karolinska Institutet (SE)
Corresponding author
  • Sasaguri, Hiroki
  • Saido, Takaomi C
Venue
The EMBO Journal
Published
2017-08-02
Volume
36
Issue
17
Pages
2473-2487
ISSN
  • 0261-4189 (ISSN-L)
  • 1460-2075
OpenAlex
W2740213823
Cited by
793
References
153
Citations by year
2026: 80 · 2025: 82 · 2024: 104 · 2023: 74 · 2022: 97 · 2021: 104 · 2020: 91 · 2019: 81 · 2018: 72 · 2017: 7
FWCI
8.42
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • The EMBO Journal (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Lirias (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (26290019, 15K19036)
  • RIKEN
  • Japan Science and Technology Agency Precursory Research for Embryonic Science and Technology (JPMJPR1285)
  • Strategic Research Program for Brain Sciences (17dm0107071h0002)
  • Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development
  • Alzheimerfonden
  • Hållstens forskningsstiftelse
  • Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas
  • HHS | National Institutes of Health (AG022560, AG030142)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
Keywords
Alzheimer's disease, amyloid precursor protein, transgenic mice, familial Alzheimer's disease, amyloid-beta deposition, presenilin, preclinical drug testing, model limitations
MeSH terms
Alzheimer Disease, Animals, Disease Models, Animal, Humans, Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor

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