Pick disease (Pick disease of brain) is one of a number of inherited neurodegenerative disorders associated with aggregation of tau protein in the brain. Pick disease exhibits autosomal dominant inheritance. Experiments done in flies using the human MAPT gene (microtubule-associated protein tau) and the orthologous Drosophila tau gene are described in the reports titled 'tauopathies, MAPT-related' (FBhh0000101) and 'frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism 17' (FBhh0000111).
Many different UAS constructs of the Hsap\MAPT gene have been introduced into flies, including wild-type MAPT and genes carrying mutational lesions implicated in disease. Although some researchers categorize all pathologies associated with variants of MAPT as one disease spectrum, others indicate specific variants as implicated in Pick disease. Variant(s) implicated in this human disease tested (as transgenic human gene, MAPT): the variant forms S637F (S320F) and G706R (G389R) have been introduced into flies.
[updated Aug. 2019 by FlyBase; FBrf0222196]
[PICK DISEASE OF BRAIN](https://omim.org/entry/172700)
[PRESENILIN 1; PSEN1](https://omim.org/entry/104311)
[MICROTUBULE-ASSOCIATED PROTEIN TAU; MAPT](https://omim.org/entry/157140)
Clinical characteristics of Pick disease encompass those of frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
Heterozygous mutations in the MAPT gene and the PSEN1 gene have been implicated in Pick disease.
Pick disease refers to the neuropathologic finding of 'Pick bodies,' characteristic intraneuronal inclusions, and 'Pick cells,' which are enlarged neurons. [from MIM:172700; 2016.01.11]
Many to one: 3 human to 1 Drosophila. Three human genes, MAPT, MAP2 and MAP4, are orthologous to the fly gene Dmel\tau.