The Brain Cleanup Crew

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1023 The Brain Clean-Up Crew in Alzheimer’s

Welcome to Medical Discovery News.  I’m Dr. David Niesel

And I’m Dr Norbert Herzog. 

As older Americans become a larger part of our population, we’ll see more people with Alzheimer’s dementia. In the next thirty years, the cases will double unless we find a cure.  

Studies tell us AD is linked to the dysfunction of a brain protein called tau that gathers inside neurons. Another protein called beta-amyloid damages neurons by covering them, like plaque on your teeth. 

Scientists are now studying whether a cause of AD is that these proteins are piling up in the brain and in the cerebral spinal fluid because too few are being removed.  

Normally, specialized waste removal cells called tanycytes clear the brain of toxins. They’re unique because they lie between the bloodstream and the cerebral spinal fluid.   

One of the proteins they move out is tau. Tau normally helps support a neuron’s internal structure, but in AD they become sticky and clumpy, leading to the death of neurons.  

To study the movement of tau, some were tagged with dye and injected into mice. Mice with impaired tanycytes accumulated tau in the brain while fewer tau was seen in the bloodstream. 

This suggests tanycytes are vital in removing tau from the brain, and if they don’t work properly, too much of the tau protein accumulates in the brain. Too much tau triggers the body to make too much beta-amyloid, the other protein implicated in dementia.

Studies show that people with AD do move less tau from the cerebral spinal fluid to the blood. Could therapies that target tanycytes hold the key to curing Alzheimer’s? We hope so.      

We are Drs. David Niesel and Norbert Herzog, at UTMB and Quinnipiac University, where biomedical discoveries shape the future of medicine.   For much more and our disclaimer go to medicaldiscoverynews.com or listen to our podcast on your favorite podcast service.