ALZHEIMER-SPECIFIC EPITOPE OF AT100 IN TRANSFECTED CELL-LINES WITH TAU - TOWARD AN EFFICIENT CELL MODEL OF TAU ABNORMAL PHOSPHORYLATION

Intraneuronal aggregation of specific hyperphosphorylated tau isoforms in subsets of neurons may explain many neurodegenerative processes. O nly some antibodies including AP422 and AT100 are specific to the abno rmal phosphorylation of tau proteins in these processes. AT100-immunor eactivity was never observed in cell models with the exception of Sf9 cells. In the present study, we developed a way to induce AT100-immuno reactivity in different cell types including COS and SY5Y cells after tau cDNA transfection and treatment by okadaic acid. This represents a useful model to study abnormal tau phosphorylation in situ. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.