Summary

The accumulation of insoluble fibrils of tau protein within neurons is a hallmark pathological feature of the Alzheimer's disease brain. A body of evidence suggests that these tau fibrils are pathogenic and contribute to the neuron loss observed in Alzheimer's disease. The research proposed here is to further characterize novel drug-like inhibitors of tau fibril formation, and the results of these studies will provide important information about the therapeutic potential of such compounds for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Project Details

One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease is the unnatural clumping of misfolded tau proteins into tangles in the brain. These tangles, along with beta‐amyloid plaques, cause brain cell death and problems with memory and other important activities. Dr. Kurt Brunden and colleagues will be testing a number of drugs on Alzheimer's disease mice to see whether one of them can prevent tau from clumping. The drug that works in mice may be a candidate for future Alzheimer's disease human clinical trials.