The lack or excess of the protein tau can be deleterious for neurons. The absence of tau can result in retarded neurogenesis and neuronal differentiation, although adult mice deficient in tau are viable, probably because of the compensation of the loss of tau by other MAPs (microtubule-associated proteins). On the contrary, the overexpression of tau can be toxic for the cell. One way to reduce intracellular tau levels can be achieved by its secretion through microvesicles to the extracellular space. Furthermore, tau can be found in the extracellular space because of the neuronal cell death occurring in neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. The presence of toxic extracellular tau could be the mechanism for the spreading of tau pathology in these neurodegenerative disorders.
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August 2012
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Conference Article|
July 20 2012
Looking for novel functions of tau
Jesus Avila;
Jesus Avila
1
*Centro de Biologia Molecular ‘Severo Ochoa’ (CSIC-UAM), Madrid, Spain
†Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED), Madrid, Spain
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (emailjavila@cbm.uam.es).
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Elena Gomez de Barreda;
Elena Gomez de Barreda
*Centro de Biologia Molecular ‘Severo Ochoa’ (CSIC-UAM), Madrid, Spain
†Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED), Madrid, Spain
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Almudena Fuster-Matanzo;
Almudena Fuster-Matanzo
*Centro de Biologia Molecular ‘Severo Ochoa’ (CSIC-UAM), Madrid, Spain
†Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED), Madrid, Spain
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Diana Simón;
Diana Simón
*Centro de Biologia Molecular ‘Severo Ochoa’ (CSIC-UAM), Madrid, Spain
†Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED), Madrid, Spain
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María Llorens-Martín;
María Llorens-Martín
*Centro de Biologia Molecular ‘Severo Ochoa’ (CSIC-UAM), Madrid, Spain
†Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED), Madrid, Spain
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Tobias Engel;
Tobias Engel
‡Department of Physiology and Medical Physics, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
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Jose J. Lucas;
Jose J. Lucas
*Centro de Biologia Molecular ‘Severo Ochoa’ (CSIC-UAM), Madrid, Spain
†Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED), Madrid, Spain
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Miguel Díaz-Hernández;
Miguel Díaz-Hernández
§Departamento de Bioquimica, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
∥Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Hospital Clínico San Carlos (IdISSC), Madrid, Spain
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Félix Hernández
Félix Hernández
*Centro de Biologia Molecular ‘Severo Ochoa’ (CSIC-UAM), Madrid, Spain
†Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED), Madrid, Spain
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Biochem Soc Trans (2012) 40 (4): 653–655.
Article history
Received:
January 12 2012
Citation
Jesus Avila, Elena Gomez de Barreda, Almudena Fuster-Matanzo, Diana Simón, María Llorens-Martín, Tobias Engel, Jose J. Lucas, Miguel Díaz-Hernández, Félix Hernández; Looking for novel functions of tau. Biochem Soc Trans 1 August 2012; 40 (4): 653–655. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST20120006
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