New paper published in Neuron
In work with Tara Spires-Jones's lab, we have discovered that synapses, which send essential signals through the brain, are also transporting toxic proteins known as tau around the brain.
The study focused on synapses, connections which allow the flow of chemical and electrical messages between brain cells and are vital to healthy brain function. Alzheimer’s disease attacks synapses and their loss strongly predicts reduced memory and thinking abilities.
In the study, we examined more than one million synapses from 42 people using powerful microscopy techniques to visualise proteins within individual synapses.
The team discovered that small clumps of the protein tau – known as tau oligomers – are found within the synapses of people who died of Alzheimer’s disease.
Tangles of tau oligomers were seen inside both ends of the synapse – from the brain cell sending signals and the brain cell receiving signals.
In a mouse model of the disease, the oligomers jumped from one side of the synapse to the other, spreading the toxic tau through the brain.
The study is published in the journal Neuron. The research team included scientists from the University of Edinburgh, the UK Dementia Research Institute, the Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques Hospital de Sant Pau and the Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (Barcelona).
Large clumps of the protein tau – called tangles – form in brain cells and are one of the defining features of Alzheimer’s disease. As these tangles spread through the brain during the disease there is a decline in brain function.
The study focused on synapses, connections which allow the flow of chemical and electrical messages between brain cells and are vital to healthy brain function. Alzheimer’s disease attacks synapses and their loss strongly predicts reduced memory and thinking abilities.
In the study, we examined more than one million synapses from 42 people using powerful microscopy techniques to visualise proteins within individual synapses.
The team discovered that small clumps of the protein tau – known as tau oligomers – are found within the synapses of people who died of Alzheimer’s disease.
Tangles of tau oligomers were seen inside both ends of the synapse – from the brain cell sending signals and the brain cell receiving signals.
In a mouse model of the disease, the oligomers jumped from one side of the synapse to the other, spreading the toxic tau through the brain.
The study is published in the journal Neuron. The research team included scientists from the University of Edinburgh, the UK Dementia Research Institute, the Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques Hospital de Sant Pau and the Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (Barcelona).
Comments
Post a Comment