Supporting data for "Adiponectin Deficiency Promotes Microglia Activation and Exacerbates Tau-Mediated Neurodegeneration"

While the adipokine adiponectin (APN) exerts anti-inflammatory effects, whether it alleviates tau-mediated neurodegeneration remains unknown. In this study, we first investigated the clinical relationship between BBB-penetrant APN levels, cognitive performance, and microglial activation in cohorts of patients with AD and non-AD.

We generated a novel APN-deficient tauopathy mouse model (Tau^P301S;<i>APN</i>^<em>-/-</em>) by crossbreeding APN knockout (<i>APN</i>^{<em>−/−</em>}) and human tau P301S mutation (Tau^P301S) mice. We aimed to study: 1) whether APN deficiency recapitulates the neurodegeneration and microglial activation characteristic of tauopathies; 2) whether APN deficiency exacerbates tau-mediated neurodegeneration in Tau^P301S mice; 3) whether this deficiency enhances microglia-mediated neuroinflammation in Tau^P301S mice; and 4) whether pharmacological activation of the APN receptors can mitigate tau-mediated neurodegeneration by restoring microglial homeostasis.