Talk title:

Recent Advances in the Modelling of Tauopathy and Alzheimer’s disease.

Abstract:

Tauopathies are a group of neurological disorders characterised by the pathological accumulation of filamentous hyperphosphorylated tau protein. Experimental tau pathology has previously been effectively recapitulated in animal models through the induction of mutant tau cDNA overexpression. However, some limitations exist in these models, such as the destruction of endogenous gene loci, the lack of physiological mRNA splicing, and the individual variation of overexpressed gene expression, which leads to an incomplete understanding of the pathomechanism. To address these drawbacks, we developed human MAPT knock-in mice and introduced frontotemporal lobar dementia (FTLD)-causing mutations into the MAPT gene. These mouse models displayed tau pathology in the brain and behavioural abnormalities without employing an overexpression paradigm. Interestingly, we observed the pathological interaction between amyloid and tau by crossing them with App knock-in mice. Next-generation tauopathy mouse models will provide us with new insights into the etiology of tauopathy and serve as a valuable platform for evaluating the in vivo potential of drug screening for subsequent preclinical testing.

Biography:

Dr. Naoto Watamura is a dedicated neuroscientist specializing in dementia research, with a strong academic background in life sciences and medical bioscience. He earned his PhD in Science from Waseda University, Japan, in 2018 under the mentorship of Professors Takaomi Saido and Toshio Ohshima. Prior to that, he obtained both his Master’s degree (2015) and Bachelor’s degree (2013) in the same field at Waseda University, working closely with Professor Toshio Ohshima. Currently, Dr. Watamura is a Research Fellow at the Dementia Research Institute at University College London, UK, where he focuses on advancing the understanding of neurodegenerative diseases. Additionally, he holds a position as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Proteolytic Neuroscience Laboratory, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Japan. In October 2024, he will also join RIKEN BIO Co. Ltd. as a member, contributing to innovative developments in brain science and biotechnology.