Early PSA-NCAM reduction in the dentate gyrus and impaired plasticity in the Alzheimer´s disease 3xTg-mice model

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer´s (AD) and physiological ageing are characterized by a decline in neurogenesis and in the polysialylated isoforms of neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM) expression within the hippocampus and specifically in the dentate gyrus (DG). In the 3xTG-AD mouse model, which mimics the human disease in both pathological and behavioral features, this decline in PSA-NCAM is associated with the presence of Aβ plaques at 9 months and Tau tangles at 12–15 months. In this work we studied the presence of PSA-NCAM at early ages (1–6 months) in the same model. Our results demonstrated that even as early as the first month of age there is a strong decrease in PSA-NCAM dendritic tree mainly altering the molecular layer (MolL) coverage affecting the synaptic plasticity and furthermore confirmed by the reduction of PSA-NCAM area density (Sv) in the 3xTG-AD. Similar and more marked early changes were seen during aging in both NTG and 3xTg-AD animals. Our results demonstrate for the first time a precipitate decrease of PSA-NCAM cells at such very early phases of the disease. This result suggests an early effect of the disease in the progression of immature and pluripotent cells resulting in an ulterior and early diminution of neurogenesis and therefore an impaired hippocampal cellular and synaptic plasticity.