Tau Proteins and Tauopathies in Alzheimer’s Disease

• Published in: Cellular and molecular neurobiology Vol. 38; no. 5; pp. 965 - 980
• Main Authors: Chong, Fong Ping, Ng, Khuen Yen, Koh, Rhun Yian, Chye, Soi Moi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.07.2018; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Alzheimer Disease - complications; Alzheimer Disease - metabolism; Alzheimer's disease; Amyloid; Animal models; Animals; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Cell Biology; Clinical trials; Cognitive ability; Dementia disorders; Humans; Immunotherapy; Memory; Neurobiology; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neurofibrillary tangles; Neurosciences; Review Paper; Senile plaques; Tau protein; tau Proteins - metabolism; Tauopathies - complications; Tauopathies - metabolism; Tauopathies - therapy; Tauopathies; Hyperphosphorylation; Neurofibrillary tangles; Alzheimer’s disease; Neurodegeneration; Tau-directed therapies; Tau proteins
• ISSN: 0272-4340; 1573-6830; 1573-6830
• DOI: 10.1007/s10571-017-0574-1

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by progressive memory loss and cognitive function deficits. There are two major pathological hallmarks that contribute to the pathogenesis of AD which are the presence of extracellular amyloid plaques composed of amyloid-β (Aβ) and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles composed of hyperphosphorylated tau. Despite extensive research that has been done on Aβ in the last two decades, therapies targeting Aβ were not very fruitful at treating AD as the efficacy of Aβ therapies observed in animal models is not reflected in human clinical trials. Hence, tau-directed therapies have received tremendous attention as the potential treatments for AD. Tauopathies are closely correlated with dementia and immunotherapy has been effective at reducing tau pathology and improving cognitive deficits in animal models. Thus, in this review article, we discussed the pathological mechanism of tau proteins, the key factors contributing to tauopathies, and therapeutic approaches for tauopathies in AD based on the recent progress in tau-based research.