Tag: Tau

Scientists have uncovered an unexpected function of the tau protein, which is mostly known for its role in Alzheimer’s and related disorders: helping encode long-term memory. This can inform novel approaches that target tau [1]. In sickness and in health Tau is a protein found mainly in neurons, where its textbook job is to bind...

Researchers publishing in Cell Reports Medicine have described the development of a lipid nanoparticle (LNP) that delivers mRNA to neurons in order to stop the formation of tau aggregates and fight Alzheimer's disease. Tau and amyloids Amyloid beta deposition between neurons and tau aggregation within neurons are both hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease, and evidence suggests...

Using an ingenious CRISPR-based screening technique, scientists have found a protein that tags tau for degradation and is more strongly expressed in tau-resilient neurons [1]. Some neurons are more equal than others The accumulation of tau protein fibrils in neurons is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s and several other diseases [2]. Scientists have long noticed that...

A new study reveals a surprising mechanism that might be behind the beneficial effects of NAD+ in preclinical models of Alzheimer's [1]. Which way to splice it? Not every part of a DNA sequence gets translated into a protein. Each sequence consists of exons, which are included in the final RNA transcript, and introns, which...

Scientists have shown that aberrant metabolism of glycogen in neurons is linked to the accumulation of harmful tau protein. Caloric restriction, genetic interventions, and small molecules might help [1]. Glycogen and the brain Aberrant aggregation of microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT), or simply tau protein, is a hallmark of several neurodegenerative diseases [2]. The most famous...

Boosting a key autophagy-related protein discourages a core component of Alzheimer's from taking hold, according to a study published in Aging Cell. Taking out the trash Autophagy is the maintenance process of the cell, in which autophagosomes engulf unwanted organelles and other material and fuse together with lysosomes to be digested. As these unwanted components...