Patent ID: 8288608

Claim:
A transgenic rat having germ and somatic cells whose genome comprises a transgene comprising a DNA construct comprising: (i) a cDNA molecule coding for a transgenic truncated tau protein, wherein: the cDNA molecule is truncated relative to a cDNA encoding full-length 4-repeat or 3-repeat human tau protein both at a 5â€²- or N-terminal truncation site and at a 3â€²- or C-terminal truncation site; wherein the 5â€²- or N-terminal truncation site is located at least 30 nucleotides downstream of the start codon and the 3â€²- or C-terminal truncation site is located at least 30 nucleotides upstream of the stop codon of the full-length human tau cDNA sequence coding for either a 4-repeat or a 3-repeat tau protein; and the cDNA molecule comprises SEQ ID No. 9; and (ii) a promoter, wherein the cDNA molecule is operably linked to the promoter, and wherein the promoter is a Thy-1 promoter; and wherein the transgenic truncated tau protein so encoded is truncated at both the N-terminus and at the C-terminus, relative to full-length human tau protein, and is expressed in the brain of the transgenic rat; and wherein neurofibrillary (NF) pathology associated with Alzheimer's disease occurs in the resulting transgenic rat expressing the transgenic truncated tau protein in the brain, when compared to non-transgenic rat counterparts.