Tamping down TAU

Despite evidence that pathologic TAU spreads through the brain in tauopathies such as Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia, the actual mechanism by which the misfolded protein propagates is murky. A key player in the process are heparan sulfate proteoglycans, according to new findings from the Washington University in St. Louis.¹

These results suggest that heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) are responsible for neuronal uptake of misfolded TAU (microtubule-associated protein-t; MAPT; FTDP-17) and that inhibiting HSPGs could prevent or slow progression of tauopathies. The findings add tauopathies to the list of diseases in which HSPGs are involved and add the glycoproteins as new targets for companies tackling tauopathies. The challenge will be safely hitting the target because it is widely distributed...