Alzheimer's and Tau Dysfunction
Report from “Science Daily” on the findings of a recent study by “Translational Genomics Research Institute” that show how varying proteins can dismantle connections in brain cells, and how this may link to Alzheimer’s disease.
"The ultimate result of tau dysfunction is that neurons lose their connections to other neurons, and when neurons are no longer communicating, that has profound effects on cognition -- the ability to think and reason,'' said Dr. Travis Dunckley, an Associate Investigator in TGen's Neurodegenerative Research Unit and the scientific paper's senior author.
Tau performs a critical role in the brain by helping bind together microtubules, which are sub-cellular structures that create scaffolding in the neurons, allowing them to stretch out along bridges called axons. The axons support the synaptic, or chemical, connections with other neurons.
Under normal circumstances, kinases regulate tau by adding phosphates. This process, called tau phosphorylation, enables the microtubules to unbind and then bind again, allowing brain cells to connect and reconnect with other brain cells.
"That facilitates synaptic plasticity. It facilitates the ability of people to form new memories -- to form new connections between different neurons -- and maintain those memories. So, it's an essential function,'' Dr. Dunckley said.
However, sometimes the tau protein becomes hyperphosphorylated, a condition in which the tau creates neurofibrillary tangles, one of the signature indicators of Alzheimer's
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