Feinberg
Northwestern Medicine | Northwestern University | Faculty Profiles

News Center

  • Categories
    • Campus News
    • Disease Discoveries
    • Clinical Breakthroughs
    • Education News
    • Scientific Advances
  • Press Releases
  • Media Coverage
  • Podcasts
  • Editor’s Picks
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Cancer
    • Neurology and Neuroscience
    • Aging and Longevity
    • Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
  • News Archives
  • About Us
    • Media Contact
    • Share Your News
    • News Feeds
    • Social Media
    • Contact Us
Menu
  • Categories
    • Campus News
    • Disease Discoveries
    • Clinical Breakthroughs
    • Education News
    • Scientific Advances
  • Press Releases
  • Media Coverage
  • Podcasts
  • Editor’s Picks
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Cancer
    • Neurology and Neuroscience
    • Aging and Longevity
    • Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
  • News Archives
  • About Us
    • Media Contact
    • Share Your News
    • News Feeds
    • Social Media
    • Contact Us
Home » Tau Protein Required for Development of Alzheimer’s Disease
Uncategorized

Tau Protein Required for Development of Alzheimer’s Disease

By medwebMay 1, 2002
Share
Facebook Twitter Email

May 15, 2002

Tau Protein Required for Development of Alzheimer’s Disease

CHICAGO— Researchers have argued for years over whether neurofibrillary tau tangles or beta-amyloid plaques are the primary cause of Alzheimer’s disease.

Autopsies show that these hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease are often found in the same brain regions—preferentially in areas responsible for learning and memory—but investigators previously have been unable to identify a mechanism linking the two types of lesions.

Now, a group of Northwestern University neuroscientists have reported the first evidence showing that tau must be present to enable beta-amyloid to induce the degeneration of brain cells that occurs in Alzheimer’s disease.

Adriana Ferreira, MD, and co-researchers from The Feinberg School of Medicine and the Northwestern University Institute for Neuroscience recently published their findings, which support a key role for tau in the mechanisms leading to beta-amyloid–induced neurodegeneration, in an article in the April 30 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

Results of the group’s experiments showed that neurons with normal amounts of tau degenerated in the presence of beta-amyloid, while neurons specially treated to be devoid of tau did not degenerate.

“Our results underscore the importance of tau in the pathogenesis of this devastating disease and open a new chapter in deciphering the toxic pathways activated by beta-amyloid,” said Dr.Ferriera, assistant professor of cell and molecular biology and NUIN researcher.

When the researchers analyzed the composition of the cytoskeleton, or cellular scaffolding, of tau-depleted neurons, they found rapid turnover of microtubules, the structures within the cell that stabilize the cell’s shape and act as a sort of intracellular molecular transport system.

These results suggest that neurons that are able to maintain the composition of microtubules with rapid turnover as they age—that is, tau-depleted neurons—might be resistant to neurodegeneration, Dr. Ferreira said.

“These findings identify the dynamic behavior of the microtubules as a new target for therapeutic intervention. They also suggest that factors able to induce or restore a more plastic composition of the microtubules might prevent the neuronal degeneration associated with the formation of senile plaques in Alzheimer’s disease patients,” she said.

Currently, Dr. Ferreira and her laboratory group are testing a variety of such factors, including hormones and trophic factors.

Dr. Ferreira’s co-researchers on this study were Mark Rapoport, NUIN; Lester I. Binder, PhD, professor of cell and molecular biology and NUIN; as well as Hana N. Dawson, PhD, and Michael P. Vitek, PhD, Duke University, Durham, N.C., and Cognosci, Inc., Research Triangle Park, N.C.

Share. Facebook Twitter Email

Related Posts

Mar 29, 2023

Adolescent Sexual Health Program Receives Funding for Social Marketing Campaign

Mar 29, 2023

Lurie Cancer Center Receives Merit Extension from NCI

Oct 20, 2021

Drug Combination May Reduce Risk of Leukemia Relapse

Mar 26, 2020

Comments are closed.

Latest News

Medical Education Day Celebrates Mentorship and Equity

Sep 29, 2023

Mapping Neural Activity Patterns and Odor Perception  

Sep 28, 2023

Lloyd-Jones Announces He is Stepping Down as Chair of Preventive Medicine

Sep 27, 2023

Small, Implantable Device Could Sense and Treat Cancer

Sep 26, 2023

Gene Linked to Glioblastoma Stem Cell Self-Renewal and Immunosuppression

Sep 26, 2023
  • News Center Home
  • Categories
  • Press Release
  • Media Coverage
  • Editor’s Picks
  • News Archives
  • About Us
Flickr Photos
20230914_NM461
20230914_NM644
20230914_NM345
20230914_NM444
20230914_NM464
20230914_NM520
20230914_NM673
20230914_NM641
20230914_NM612
20230914_NM608
20230914_NM602
20230914_NM597

Northwestern University logo

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

RSS Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Flickr YouTube Instagram
Copyright © 2023 Northwestern University
  • Contact Northwestern University
  • Disclaimer
  • Campus Emergency Information
  • Policy Statements

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.