For Immediate Release
What Can a Tau Mouse Model Reveal About the Effects of Repetitive Brain Injury?
Contact: Kathryn Ryan
914-740-2250
kryan@liebertpub.com
New Rochelle, NY, November 5, 2018—Researchers have developed a mouse model expressing the human tau protein and subjected it to repeated injury-producing impacts and rotational acceleration to be able to study the effects on social behavior, anxiety, spatial learning and memory, and depressive behavior. These deficits could be assessed in the same animals at acute (immediately after), intermediate (three months later), and chronic (one year later) time points, as reported in the study published in Journal of Neurotrauma, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. Click here to read the full-text article on the Journal of Neurotrauma website through December 5, 2018.
David Brody, Washington University School of Medicine (St. Louis, MO) and colleagues from Washington University School of Medicine and University of Queensland (St. Lucia, Queensland) coauthored the article entitled “Repetitive Concussive and Subconcussive Injury in a Human Tau Mouse Model Results in Chronic Cognitive Dysfunction and Disruption of White Matter Tracts, But Not Tau Pathology.” The researchers found that repetitive concussive injuries resulted in acute cognitive and motor dysfunction that persisted for one year after the injury or longer. They also associated repetitive concussive injuries with chronic disruptions in white matter in several regions of the brain.
“This well-done study, when joined with the equally rigorous work of Crawford and colleagues (J Neurotrauma 2018:35), forces a rethinking of the role of tau pathology in the neuropathological events associated with singular as well as repetitive brain injury,” says John Povlishock, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Neurotrauma. “They now provide compelling evidence that chronic white matter damage and its associated neuroinflammation and axonal injury may be the most significant players in the observed neuropathological response to injury.”
Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institutes of Health under Award Numbers NS086741 and R01 NS065069. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
About the Journal
Journal of Neurotrauma is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published 24 times per year in print and online that focuses on the latest advances in the clinical and laboratory investigation of traumatic brain and spinal cord injury. Emphasis is on the basic pathobiology of injury to the nervous system, and the papers and reviews evaluate preclinical and clinical trials targeted at improving the early management and long-term care and recovery of patients with traumatic brain injury. Journal of Neurotrauma is the official journal of the National Neurotrauma Society and the International Neurotrauma Society. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Journal of Neurotrauma website.
About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Therapeutic Hypothermia and Temperature Management, Brain Connectivity, and Tissue Engineering. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s 80 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.