Association among tau, NFT formation, neuron loss, and brain dysfunction

Tomohiro Miyasaka

Department of Neuropathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo

　　Tauopathy is a category of neurodegenerative disease including Alzheimer’s disease, Pick disease, progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration, and frontotemporal dementia, which represent the age-related cognitive disorder associated with neuron loss and formation of tau inclusion in affected neurons.　Discovery of mutations in the tau gene among FTDP-17 families indicates that the abnormality of tau is sufficient to induce tauopathy, but the detailed mechanism remains obscure.　To date, accumulating evidence suggest that the neurofibrillary tangle formation does not directly lead to the neuron loss.　In this review, I would like to focus on the association of tau and NFT formation with neuron loss and neuronal dysfunction.

Address correspondence to Dr. Tomohiro Miyasaka, Department of Neuropathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo (7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan)