University of Queensland researchers have discovered a new ‘seeding’ process in brain cells that could be a cause of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute dementia researcher Professor Jürgen Götz said the study revealed that tangled neurons, a hallmark sign of dementia, form in part by a cellular process that has gone astray and allows a toxic protein, tau, to leak into healthy brain cells.
“These leaks create a damaging seeding process that causes tau tangles and ultimately lead to memory loss and other impairments,” Professor Götz said.
Professor Götz said until now researchers did not understand how tau seeds were able to escape after their uptake into healthy cells.
“In people with Alzheimer’s disease, it seems the tiny sacs transporting messages within or outside the cells, called exosomes, trigger a reaction which punches holes in the wall of…
