Tau Protein News and Research

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Tau proteins are microtubule-associated proteins found in neurons in the brain.

Study sheds new light on role of Tau proteins in certain brain diseases

In a study published in the journal PNAS scientists of the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases present new findings on the role of the protein Tau in certain brain diseases.

7 Oct 2016

Tau PET imaging in Alzheimer's disease increases opportunities for developing effective drugs

Tau PET is a new and promising imaging method for Alzheimer's disease. A case study from Lund University in Sweden now confirms that tau PET images correspond to a higher degree to actual changes in the brain. According to the researchers behind the study, this increases opportunities for developing effective drugs.

28 Sep 2016

Experimental PET tracer can diagnose concussion-related brain degeneration in living person

An experimental positron emission tomography (PET) tracer can effectively diagnose concussion-related brain degeneration while a person is still alive, according to a proof-of-concept study conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published September 27 in the journal Translational Psychiatry.

27 Sep 2016

Multi-purpose protein may offer clues for successful treatment of Alzheimer's disease

The tidal wave approaches. In the coming decades, Alzheimer's disease is projected to exact a devastating economic and emotional toll on society, with patient numbers in the US alone expected to reach 13.5 million by mid-century at a projected cost of over a trillion dollars.

30 Aug 2016

Salk researchers identify new mechanism for Alzheimer's risk gene

For decades, scientists have known that people with two copies of a gene called apolipoprotein E4 (ApoE4) are much more likely to have Alzheimer's disease at age 65 than the rest of the population.

18 Aug 2016

Healthy BMI, exercise and diet can lower abnormal protein build-ups linked to Alzheimer’s

A study by researchers at UCLA's Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior has found that a healthy diet, regular physical activity and a normal body mass index can reduce the incidence of protein build-ups that are associated with the onset of Alzheimer's disease.

16 Aug 2016

Novel therapeutic strategy could target multiple aspects of Alzheimer's disease

Therapeutic strategies targeting Alzheimer's disease (AD)-related molecule β-amyloid (Aβ), Tau protein and BACE enzyme have been recently explored. However the therapeutic efficacy for a single target is not ideal.

8 Aug 2016

Odor identification test may help detect early-stage Alzheimer's disease

Researchers from Columbia University Medical Center, New York State Psychiatric Institute, and NewYork-Presbyterian reported that an odor identification test may prove useful in predicting cognitive decline and detecting early-stage Alzheimer's disease.

26 Jul 2016

New research shows how toxic Alzheimer's protein spreads through the brain

A toxic Alzheimer's protein can spread through the brain--jumping from one neuron to another--via the extracellular space that surrounds the brain's neurons, suggests new research from Columbia University Medical Center.

19 Jul 2016

New mouse model reveals how Alzheimer's causes dementia

Using a novel, newly developed mouse model that mimics the development of Alzheimer's disease in humans, Johns Hopkins researchers say they have been able to determine that a one-two punch of major biological "insults" must occur in the brain to cause the dementia that is the hallmark of the disease.

4 Jul 2016

New imaging study links tau proteins to neurodegenerative pathology of Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's is a devastating and incurable disease marked by beta-amyloid and tau protein aggregations in the brain, yet the direct relationship between these proteins and neurodegeneration has remained a mystery.

14 Jun 2016

Many biomarkers for PD fail to inform on progression

Longitudinal monitoring of 30 tests for marker candidates in early Parkinson's disease has found that just 10 show significant changes commensurate with disease progression.

17 May 2016

Scientists find tau protein as better marker of Alzheimer's disease

A buildup of plaque and dysfunctional proteins in the brain are hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. While much Alzheimer's research has focused on accumulation of the protein amyloid beta, researchers have begun to pay closer attention to another protein, tau, long associated with this disease but not studied as thoroughly, in part, because scientists only recently have developed effective ways to image tau.

12 May 2016

Scientists find interaction between amyloid and tau proteins that cause brain damage linked with AD

For years, neuroscientists have puzzled over how two abnormal proteins, called amyloid and tau, accumulate in the brain and damage it to cause Alzheimer's disease (AD). Which one is the driving force behind dementia? The answer: both of them, according to a new study by researchers at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute.

21 Apr 2016

Researchers clarify potential transmissibility of Alzheimer's disease

MedUni Vienna researchers have published the results of a clarifying research study on the potential transmissibility of Alzheimer's disease. Although the protein associated with Alzheimer's disease, amyloid-β, might be transmissible under very unusual circumstances, this does not go along with a transmission of the clinical manifestation of Alzheimer's disease. The affected persons develop no clinical symptoms of the disease.

29 Mar 2016

Novel therapeutic approach to target monomeric Tau protein

Dementia and other tauopathies, most notably Alzheimer's disease, embody a class of neurodegenerative diseases associated with the aggregation of the Tau protein in the human brain. These diseases represent one of the leading causes of death and disability in the elderly population in the western world, with no current effective therapy.

27 Feb 2016

Study explores link between CSF biomarkers and cognition in Parkinson's disease

Many patients with Parkinson's Disease (PD) develop mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia. Identifying biomarkers for cognitive impairment could be instrumental in facilitating both early diagnosis of MCI and developing new cognitive-enhancing treatments. New research published in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease indicates that lower concentrations of α-synuclein in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is associated with reduced performance on several cognitive tests.

18 Feb 2016

Mayo Clinic researchers uncover clues to apraxia of speech

It may start with a simple word you can't pronounce. Your tongue and lips stumble, and gibberish comes out. Misspeaking might draw a chuckle from family and friends. But, then, it keeps happening. Progressively, more and more speech is lost. Some patients eventually become mute from primary progressive apraxia of speech, a disorder related to degenerative neurologic disease.

15 Feb 2016

Seafood consumption may benefit older adults at risk for Alzheimer's disease

New research published Feb. 2 in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that older adults with a major risk gene for Alzheimer's disease known as APOE?4 who ate at least one seafood serving per week showed fewer signs of Alzheimer's-related brain changes. In contrast, this association was not found in the brains of volunteers who ate fish weekly but did not carry the risk gene.

3 Feb 2016

New UTMB study reveals link between traumatic brain injury and Alzheimer's disease

A new study from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston fills an important gap in understanding the link between traumatic brain injury and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.

13 Jan 2016