Research Links Tau Protein to Cell Death in Alzheimer ’s disease

In this study we provide novel insights into how accumulation of Tau protein may contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s disease.”Although scientists have studied for years what happens when Tau forms aggregates inside neurons, it still is not clear why brain cells ultimately die. One thing that scientists have noticed is that neurons affected by Tau accumulation also appear to have genomic instability.“Genomic instability refers to an increased tendency to have alterations in the genetic material, DNA, such as mutations or other impairments.This means that the genome is not functioning correctly. Genomic instability is known to be a major driving force behind other diseases such as cancer.Our study focused on a new possible causal connection between Tau accumulation within neurons and the resulting genomic instability in Alzheimer ’s disease.”How to Test Your Memory for Alzheimer's and Dementia (5 Best Tests)Enter transposable elementsPrevious studies of brain tissues from patients with other neurologic diseases and of animal models have suggested that the neurons not only present with genomic instability, but also with activation of transposable elements.“Transposable elements are short pieces of DNA that do not seem to contribute to the production of proteins that make cells function.They behave in a way similar to viruses; they can make copies of themselves that are inserted within the genome and thiscan create mutations that lead to disease.” ~ Sh...
Source: Alzheimer's Reading Room, The - Category: Neurology Tags: alzheimer's science Alzheimers Prevention alzheimers research brain dna genome health memory memory experiments tau Tau Protein Source Type: blogs