Tau filament intermediates

Sumihiro Maeda, Naruhiko Sahara, Akihiko Takashima

Laboratory for Alzheimer’s disease, Brain Science Institute, RIKEN

In various neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s diseases, amyloid fibrils are observed as pathological hallmarks. In these disorders, not the amyloid fibrils themselves, but the intermediates for amyloid fibrils are postulated to have critical roles on pathogenesis. Recently, in in vitro analysis, we identified a granular tau oligomer as a pre-filamentous structure of tau filament.Alzheimer’sIn vivo analysis indicated that increases of granular tau oligomer occur before NFT formation. Therefore, increased granular tau oligomer levels may lead to NFT formation in later stage. Thus, granular tau oligomer may be involved in development of AD pathogenesis.

Address correspondence to Dr. Sumihiro Maeda, Laboratory for Alzheimer’s disease, Brain Science Institute, RIKEN (2-1, Hirosawa, Wako city, Saitama 351-0198, Japan)