A team from the National Institute of Health (Inserm) has just taken a further step in research into taupathies, such asAlzheimer’s. Even if the mechanism remains to be clarified, the tau protein would be able to naturally exit neurons, spreading the disease. A discovery that could help in the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.
This protein was initially thought to be a simple neural support molecule, but it appears to play a wide variety of roles and functions, according to the researchers. First, they discovered that it enters the nucleus of neurons and protects the DNA of cells. As they continued their studies, the scientists found that the tau protein could also leave neurons naturally, thanks to microparticles called ectosomes.
Other work needed
“These ectosomes are vesicles that form from the cell membrane. The latter buds out of the cell and forms a sphere, incorporating fluid and proteins contained in the cell. This is a phenomenon. quite physiological observed on healthy neuronal cells, explains Morvane Colin, co-author of the work.
All the researchers have to do is answer several questions: is this passage involved in the spread of the disease? Does the form of the tau protein responsible for neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease circulate in the same way? “For this, a lot of work, in vitro and in vivo, will still be necessary. It will be necessary in particular to compare the cerebrospinal fluid of sick people and that of controls. This will make it possible to know if this approach can help in the early diagnosis of the disease. “, concludes Morvane Colin.