Canada (Commonwealth Union) – Tau proteins together with amyloid beta proteins have been found to have a role in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). A study has shown a mechanism that controls cellular levels of the tau protein whose unusual collection is associated with tauopathies, which are neurodegenerative diseases such as AD and Parkinson.
The findings came about in the laboratory of University of Montreal, medical professor Michel Cayouette, director of cellular neurobiology research at the Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM). The study was published in Science Advances, where they demonstrate that a protein known as ‘numb’ regulates intracellular tau levels, which paves the for the use of the numb protein in future treatments for biotechnologists and medical researchers.
The increased intracellular levels of tau lead to toxicity to neurons resulting in their degeneration. Knowing the mechanisms by which tau levels are controlled is a significant step to produce effective therapeutic strategies in the battle against these devastating diseases.
The IRCM cellular neurobiology lab’s, Marine Lacomme, an associate researcher and 1st author of the new study and colleagues, showed that inactivation of numb in retinal neurons and spinal-cord motor neurons increase disease progression and neuronal loss. Numb plays the role of a negative regulator of intracellular tau levels. This prompted the IRCM team to wonder if on the other hand, increased production of numb could bring down tau levels and be advantageous to slow neuron loss. Researchers tested this hypothesis and observed that overexpression of a specific form of the numb protein known as Numb-72 lowered tau levels and slowed down the destruction of retinal neurons in mouse models of tauopathy.
The findings are extremely significant showing that mice treated with Numb-72 did better in a visual test when compared to untreated mice. Further human trials will be required to make the treatment available to the public.
