The effect of cdk-5 overexpression on tau phosphorylation and spatial memory of rat

In Alzheimer's disease (AD), hyperphosphorylation of tau may be the underlying mechanism for the cytoskeletal abnormalities and neuronal death. It was reported that cyclin-dependent kinase5 (cdk-5) could phosphorylate tau at most AD-related epitopes in vitro. In this study, we investigated the effect of cdk-5 overexpression on tau phosphorylation and spatial memory in rat. We demonstrated that 24 h after transfection into rat hippocampus, cdk-5 was overexpressed and induced a reduced staining with antibody tau-1 and an enhanced staining with antibodies 12e8 and PHF-1, suggesting hyperphosphorylation of tau at Ser199/202, Ser262/356 and Ser396/404 sites. Additionally, the cdk-5 transfected rats showed long latency to find the hidden platform in Morris water maze compared to the control rat. 48 h after transfection, the level of cdk-5 was decreased significantly, and the latency of rats to find the hidden platform was prolonged. It implies that in vivo overexpression of cdk-5 leads to impairment of spatial memory in rat and tau hyperphosphorylation may be the underlying mechanism.