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The mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (AD), Tg2576 mice (APP), has provided valuable information, such as the role of the metallothionein (MT) family in their behavioral and amyloidosis phenotypes. In this study, we further characterize the role of MT-1 by crossing Mt1-overexpressing mice with Tg2576 mice (APPTgMT). In 14-month-old mice, MT-1(/2) protein levels were dramatically increased by Mt1 overexpression throughout the cortex (Cx), which showed a prominent caudal-rostral gradient, and the hippocampus (HC). There was a trend for MT-1(/2) immunostaining to be increased in the areas surrounding the amyloid plaques in control male mice but not in Mt1-overexpressing mice. Gliosis was elicited by the amyloid plaques, but the effects of Mt1 overexpression were modest. However, in hippocampal western blots the microglial marker Iba-1 was increased in old male APPTgMT mice compared to APP-wild type (APPWT) mice, and the opposite was observed in young mice. Hippocampal CA1 neuronal loss was observed in Tg2576 mice, but was unaffected by Mt1 overexpression. Aging increased Zn and Cu levels differently depending on brain area, sex, and genotype. Thus, the effects of Mt1 overexpression on the phenotype of Tg2576 mice here studied are modest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most commonly diagnosed dementia, where signs of neuroinflammation and oxidative stress are prominent. In this study we intend to further characterize the roles of the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and heavy metal binding protein, metallothionein-1 (MT-1), by crossing Mt1 overexpressing mice with a well-known mouse model of AD, Tg2576 mice, which express the human amyloid-β protein precursor (hAβPP) with the Swedish K670N/M671L mutations. Mt1 overexpression increased overall perinatal survival, but did not affect significantly hAβPP-induced mortality and weight loss in adult mice. Amyloid plaque burden in ∼14-month-old mice was increased by Mt1 overexpression in the hippocampus but not the cortex. Despite full length hAβPP levels and amyloid plaques being increased by Mt1 overexpression in the hippocampus of both sexes, oligomeric and monomeric forms of Aβ, which may contribute more to toxicity, were decreased in the hippocampus of females and increased in males. Several behavioral traits such as exploration, anxiety, and learning were altered in Tg2576 mice to various degrees depending on the age and the sex. Mt1 overexpression ameliorated the effects of hAβPP on exploration in young females, and potentiated those on anxiety in old males, and seemed to improve the rate of spatial learning (Morris water maze) and the learning elicited by a classical conditioning procedure (eye-blink test). These results clearly suggest that MT-1 may be involved in AD pathogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]