Grant: Project Grant

Tau is a protein present mainly in brain cells. Tau helps maintain cell structure due to its presence in the cellular internal skeleton, however, in many disorders of the central nervous system, tau forms into clumps and impairs neuronal function. This is particularly well described in Alzheimer's disease, but other disorders, such as Huntington's disease (HD) - a genetic disorder of the brain - were only recently found to have detrimental changes in tau. The presence of tau clumps in multiple nervous system disorders presenting with cognitive decline suggests that the abnormal tau may contribute to this aspect of disease. Further evidence of this relationship, at least in HD, comes from studies demonstrating that different forms of the gene leading to the production of tau, correlate with cognitive decline and its severity in patients. By further investigating tau pathology in HD patients and by decreasing tau levels in HD mice, we aim to gain a more complete understanding of the contribution of tau to cognitive decline in patients. We anticipate that this information can lead to the design of a tau-targeted therapy to improve cognition for HD patients.