French Team Finds Brain Cells That Clear Tau, Pointing to New Alzheimer’s Targets

Overview

• Inserm and CHU de Lille researchers showed in mice that tanycytes move Tau from brain to blood, enabling its clearance.
• Post-mortem analyses found these cells markedly damaged in people who had Alzheimer’s, consistent with impaired Tau removal.
• The discovery, led by Vincent Prévot, was published March 9 in the journal Cell Press Blue.
• The work suggests two avenues now under study: biomarkers of tanycyte dysfunction for earlier detection and therapies to protect or repair these cells.
• Monoclonal antibodies that target abnormal proteins are already used in the United States, and the proposed tanycyte-focused strategy would be complementary.