Columbia scientists find tau linked to Alzheimer's produced in dendrites
Technology
Big news from Columbia University: scientists just found that tau, the protein linked to Alzheimer's disease, doesn't travel from one part of the brain cell to another as everyone thought.
Instead, it's made right where the trouble starts, in the dendrites.
This fresh discovery could totally shift how we understand and treat Alzheimer's disease.
STARFISH reveals dendritic tau vulnerability
The team used a new technique called STARFISH to watch exactly where tau gets made inside mouse brain cells.
Turns out, all the action happens in dendrites, not axons.
According to neurologist and senior author Kapil Ramachandran, this points to a "vulnerable pool" of tau that can easily turn toxic if things go wrong locally, opening up new ideas for future treatments.