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. 2004 May 21;566(1-3):261-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.febslet.2004.04.047.

Memantine inhibits and reverses the Alzheimer type abnormal hyperphosphorylation of tau and associated neurodegeneration

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Free article

Memantine inhibits and reverses the Alzheimer type abnormal hyperphosphorylation of tau and associated neurodegeneration

Liang Li et al. FEBS Lett. .
Free article

Abstract

Memantine, an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, reduces the clinical deterioration in moderate-to-severe Alzheimer disease (AD) for which other treatments are not available. The activity of protein phosphatase (PP)-2A is compromised in AD brain and is believed to be a cause of the abnormal hyperphosphorylation of tau and the consequent neurofibrillary degeneration. Here we show that memantine inhibits and reverses the PP-2A inhibition-induced abnormal hyperphosphorylation and accumulation of tau in organotypic culture of rat hippocampal slices. Such restorative effects of memantine were not detected either with 5,7-dichlorokynurenic acid or with D(-)-2-amino-5-phosphopentanoic acid, NMDA receptor antagonists active at the glycine binding site and at the glutamate binding site, respectively. These findings show (1) that memantine inhibits and reverses the PP-2A inhibition-induced abnormal hyperphosphorylation of tau/neurofibrillary degeneration and (2) that this drug might be useful for the treatment of AD and related tauopathies.

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