Targeting immune cells may be potential therapy for Alzheimer’s

Newswise — Messy tangles of a protein called tau can be found in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease and some other neurodegenerative diseases. In Alzheimer’s, the tangles coalesce just before tissue damage becomes visible in brain scans and people start to become forgetful and confused.

Now, a new study has found that brain immune cells called microglia – which are activated as tau tangles accumulate – form the crucial link between protein clumping and brain damage. The research, published Oct. 10 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, shows that eliminating such cells sharply reduces tau-linked brain damage in the mice…