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Updated: Jul 4, 2026
Assessment of Dendritic Arborization in the Dentate Gyrus of the Hippocampal Region in Mice
Published on: March 31, 2015
Age-dependent loss of dentate gyrus granule cells in APP/PS1KI mice
Marie-Caroline Cotel1, Thomas A Bayer, Oliver Wirths
1Division of Molecular Psychiatry and Alzheimer Ph.D. Graduate School, Department of Psychiatry, University of Goettingen, von-Siebold-Strasse 5, Goettingen, Germany.
Abstract:
Loss of neurons in the hippocampus and other brain regions is, besides the occurrence of plaques and tangles, a neuropathological feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In recent years a plethora of transgenic mouse models overexpressing mutant amyloid precursor protein (APP) has been developed, which represent valuable research tools. Whereas extracellular plaque pathology is a common feature of these models, neuronal loss is a rather rare characteristic. In the present study, we quantified the number of neurons in the dentate gyrus granule layer (GCL) in 2- and 12-month-old APP/PS1KI mice, a mouse model that has been previously shown to have significant loss of neurons in the CA1 layer of the hippocampus. Stereological analysis revealed a strongly significant decrease of GCLs in aged APP/PS1KI mice, compared to age-matched PS1KI control animals (-44%), however, the volume of the GCL was not different.
