Hyperphosphorylated tau aggregation and cytotoxicity test kits to identify tauopathy therapeutics and risk factors

The Kuo Lab at Michigan State University is leading a collaborative, translational research project aimed at developing novel approaches to treat neurodegeneration driven by hyperphosphorylated tau, a protein strongly implicated in Alzheimer's disease (AD).

The Kuo Lab has addressed a longstanding barrier in tauopathy research: reliably producing hyperphosphorylated tau that recapitulates the neuronal damage and behavioral deficits observed in patients. Their approach produces recombinant p-tau in E. coli that behaves similarly to the pathological protein found in AD patients and has been shown to cause cognitive impairments in animal models, including mice and fruit flies. Using a newly developed mouse model, the teams will test the central hypotheses that oligomeric p-tau is a causal driver of neuronal death and cognitive decline and that targeted pharmacologic intervention can block this toxicity.