How might amyloid-β and tau interact to disrupt brain cell communication in Alzheimer’s disease?
In a mouse study that focused on synapses, a team of researchers from the University of Edinburgh (UK) revealed how amyloid-β and tau proteins might work together to disrupt cell communication in the brains of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). "We were intrigued by the clear neuro-immune signal in our mice with plaques which was only associated with a behavioral phenotype and synaptic gene transcription reductions when tau was present,” commented lead author, Tara Spires-Jones (University of Edinburgh). “This implies that amyloid pathology creates an inflammatory milieu in the brain which is particularly toxic to synapses when tau is present.”...