CONFERENCE COVERAGE SERIES
Tau2022 Global Conference (Virtual Meeting)
Washington, D.C. and Online
22 – 23 February 2022
Since Tau2020 was their last in-person conference, many attendees were hoping Tau2022 would be their first one back in person. Alas, it was not to be. Even so, the small virtual meeting hit some high notes as scientists focused on five major themes over two days. They debuted a phospho-tau 217 “clock” that predicts AD progression, identified LRRK2 as essential for neurons to internalize tau monomers from extracellular fluid, fingered toxic tau species as triggers of damaging immune responses, and linked tau haplotypes to errant transcriptional regulation and oxidative stress.
P-Tau217 Clock Predicts Alzheimer’s Progression Over 30 Years
Once p-tau217 in cerebrospinal fluid reaches a tipping point, it rises at a constant rate in everyone and predicts the age when symptoms will begin.
At Tau2022: Unknown Functions Emerge for Tau, LRRK2
Neurons need LRRK2 in order to take up tau from the extracellular milieu. In ALS neurons, tau scuppers mitochondria, whereas in healthy cells it helps the nucleolus to function correctly.
Tau Triggers Neuroinflammation, But Mechanisms Vary by Disease
In two primary tauopathies, natural killer cells invade the brain. In Alzheimer’s, a microglial antiviral response dominates, and hyperexcitability may play a role.
Tau Haplotypes Hint at Transcriptional Changes, Ferroptosis
In iPSC-derived cells, H1 risk haplotype is linked to noncoding, antisense variants and to a master regulator of oxidative stress