By mapping all the protein interactions of a dementia-linked protein in the brain called Tau, a team of Weill Cornell Medicine investigators has created a road map for identifying potential new treatment targets for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia.
Tau protein has long been implicated in neurodegenerative diseases. Mutations in the gene that encodes the Tau protein result in neurodegenerative conditions like frontotemporal dementia, while in Alzheimer’s disease the protein accumulates and becomes toxic. But the exact role of the Tau protein in these diseases have remained a mystery.
To help solve this mystery, senior author Dr. Li Gan, director of the Helen and Robert Appel Alzheimer’s Disease Research Institute, and her colleagues created a comprehensive atlas, called Tau interactome, that maps all the Tau protein’s interactions with other proteins in human neurons grown in…
