Alzheimers. T cells “turn on” the disease

In Alzheimer’s and related neurodegenerative diseases, the accumulation of tau protein in the brain is closely linked to the process of cognitive decline. A study from Washington University in St. Louis indicates that T cells play a key role in tau protein-related neurodegeneration. A discovery that may pave the way for new treatment strategies for Alzheimer’s and related diseases.

09 MAR – In Alzheimer’s disease, T cells play a key role in neurodegeneration related to tau protein. This is what emerges from a research conducted by a team from Washington University in St. Louis; a discovery that could pave the way for new treatment strategies for Alzheimer’s and related pathologies, as highlighted by the same authors in Nature.

The team analyzed animal models with damage similar to that caused to the brain by Alzheimer’s disease, due to the tau protein. The researchers observed that microglia cells – responsible for the immune defense of the central nervous system – attract other immune cells – T cells – to the brain and that much of the neurodegenerative process could be avoided by blocking the entry or activation of the cells T.

Alzheimer’s disease, as the authors of the study recall, develops in two main phases: in the first, amyloid beta protein plaques begin to be deposited, which can form for decades without giving any effects in the brain; in the second, however, the tau proteins begin to aggregate. The disease worsens rapidly: neurons die, neurodegeneration spreads, and patients begin to have difficulty thinking and remembering.

Both microglia and T cells contribute to pro-inflammatory effects, with microglia releasing molecular compounds that attract T cells into the brain and activating them, and T cells, in turn, releasing compounds that push microglia into a pro-inflammatory mode .

Eliminating either the microglia or the T cells would then disrupt the ‘toxic’ connection between the two types of cells, reducing damage to the brain.

Source: Nature 2023

March 09, 2023
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