Mathematical model for disturbed tau dynamics
2014
University of California Davis, Davis, USA
Tau proteins are critically important in the stabilisation of axonal microtubules and their dysregulation is present in several neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, tauopathies, and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. However, how the disturbed tau protein dynamics leads to the collapse of axonal microtubules is still not well understood. Here, the researchers provide a simplified mathematical model to study the mechanics of microtubule-tau bundles in neuronal axons where taus are removed. The results show the different conditions of tau binding conditions and the potential role of dynamic instability in microtubule's collapse. The main conclusion of which is that well before dynamic instability is relevant, the mechanical damage done to microtubule bundles at low tau binding rates is already irreversible. Therefore, this could be a very useful model to properly design treatment strategies for tau related pathologies.
Simulated cytoskeletal collapse via Tau degradation
Daniel L Cox
Added on: 08-09-2021
[1] https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0104965[2] https://data.jrc.ec.europa.eu/dataset/a8fd26ef-b113-47ab-92ba-fd2be449c7eb
