Endogenous murine Aβ increases amyloid deposition in APP23 but not in APPPS1 transgenic mice

Endogenous murine amyloid-beta peptide (A beta) is expressed in most A beta precursor protein (APP) transgenic mouse models of Alzheimer's disease but its contribution to beta-amyloidosis remains unclear. We demonstrate similar to 35% increased cerebral A beta load in APP23 transgenic mice compared with age-matched APP23 mice on an App-null background. No such difference was found for the much faster A beta-depositing APPPS1 transgenic mouse model between animals with or without the murine App gene. Nevertheless, both APP23 and APPPS1 mice codeposited murine A beta, and immunoelectron microscopy revealed a tight association of murine A beta with human A beta fibrils. Deposition of murine A beta was considerably less efficient compared with the deposition of human A beta indicating a lower amyloidogenic potential of murine A beta in vivo. The amyloid dyes Pittsburgh Compound-B and pentamer formyl thiophene acetic acid did not differentiate between amyloid deposits consisting of human A beta and deposits of mixed human-murine A beta. Our data demonstrate a differential effect of murine A beta on human A beta deposition in different APP transgenic mice. The mechanistically complex interaction of human and mouse A beta may affect pathogenesis of the models and should be considered when models are used for translational preclinical studies. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.