Researchers uncover new clues about the origin of Alzheimer's tau tangles

Researchers at Columbia University have uncovered new clues about the earliest molecular events that may trigger Alzheimer's disease, shedding light on how toxic tau filaments begin to form in the brain. The findings could help guide future therapies aimed at stopping the disease before significant memory loss and cognitive decline occur.

The study focuses on tau, a protein that normally helps stabilize neurons but can become misshapen and accumulate into tangled filaments in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease. While amyloid plaques have long been associated with Alzheimer's, growing evidence suggests that tau pathology is more closely linked to the progression of cognitive symptoms.

Although recently approved amyloid-clearing therapies have shown modest benefits, many researchers believe tau-focused approaches may prove more effective in slowing or preventing cognitive decline.

Researchers have long sought to understand how tau misfolds into the filaments that make up the tangles associated with Alzheimer's. But because tau does not misfold in animal models of Alzheimer's disease the way it does in people, researchers have had to extract tangles from patients' brains and inject them into animals.