Institute of Neuroimmunology
Topic
Mechanisms of tau protein movement through brain extracellular space
PhD. program
Immunology
Name of the supervisor
Mgr. Petra Majerová, PhD.
Contact:
Receiving school
University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice
Annotation
The pathological aggregation of tau protein is a hallmark of a group of neurodegenerative diseases collectively referred to as tauopathies. The presence of tau in cerebrospinal fluid before detecting neuronal death indicates that tau can be actively secreted by neuronal cells into extracellular space (ECS). Brain ECS is tight and influences the movement of dozens of neuromodulators and hundreds of large molecules. ECS transports signaling molecules, cellular waste products, and therapeutics. The basic biophysical mechanisms governing how large molecules move through the brain’s ECS are little understood. This knowledge is critical to establishing how the ECS controls the distribution of biomedically relevant macromolecules, such as tau protein. To elucidate the movement of tau protein in ECS and how it can be transported from to brain across blood- the CSF barrier into the periphery is one of the most important fields in the study of neurodegenerative disorders. The future findings and understanding of how tau moves through extracellular space and out of the brain can help us to develop new reliable diagnostic approaches.