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Review
. 2018 Jul;38(5):965-980.
doi: 10.1007/s10571-017-0574-1. Epub 2018 Jan 3.

Tau Proteins and Tauopathies in Alzheimer's Disease

Fong Ping Chong  1 , Khuen Yen Ng  2 , Rhun Yian Koh  1 , Soi Moi Chye  3
Affiliations
Review

Tau Proteins and Tauopathies in Alzheimer's Disease

Fong Ping Chong et al. Cell Mol Neurobiol. 2018 Jul.

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by progressive memory loss and cognitive function deficits. There are two major pathological hallmarks that contribute to the pathogenesis of AD which are the presence of extracellular amyloid plaques composed of amyloid-β (Aβ) and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles composed of hyperphosphorylated tau. Despite extensive research that has been done on Aβ in the last two decades, therapies targeting Aβ were not very fruitful at treating AD as the efficacy of Aβ therapies observed in animal models is not reflected in human clinical trials. Hence, tau-directed therapies have received tremendous attention as the potential treatments for AD. Tauopathies are closely correlated with dementia and immunotherapy has been effective at reducing tau pathology and improving cognitive deficits in animal models. Thus, in this review article, we discussed the pathological mechanism of tau proteins, the key factors contributing to tauopathies, and therapeutic approaches for tauopathies in AD based on the recent progress in tau-based research.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Hyperphosphorylation; Neurodegeneration; Neurofibrillary tangles; Tau proteins; Tau-directed therapies; Tauopathies.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationship that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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