Immunotherapy Versus Tau Tangles
Much of Alzheimer's research is focused, rightly or wrongly, on getting rid of amyloid-beta or tau tangles. Immunotherapy has proven promising against amyloid, and EurekAlert! shows these techniques aimed at tau: "The therapeutic approach is based on using fragments of abnormal tau protein as a vaccine. These fragments are studded with phosphate groups, which are thought to promote the aggregation of tau. The antibodies generated by the vaccine are therefore likely to bind to abnormal tau and promote its breakdown. Normal tau, which would be far less affected, has such important biological functions as facilitating transport of chemicals within neurons and maintaining their structure. ... Compared to extracellular amyloid plaques, tau aggregates are confined inside of brain cells, making them more difficult to reach. ... It's likely that there's a synergism in the pathology. Amyloid pathology may cause tau pathology and tau pathology might cause more amyloid ... The vaccine successfully slowed the deterioration of motor abilities produced by excessive amounts of tau in the central nervous system of mice."
Link: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-08/nyum-vtt082007.php