J Neurol Neurosurg Spine | Volume 3, Issue 1 | Research Article | Open Access

Role of Tau Acetylation in Alzheimer’s Disease and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy: the Way Forward for Successful Treatment

Brandon Lucke-Wold¹, Kay Seidel², Rub Udo², Bennet Omalu³, Richard Nolan¹, Charles Rosen¹ and Joel S. Ross^4*

¹Department of Neurosurgery, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, WV, USA
²Dr. Senckenberg Chronomedical Institute, J. W. Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
³Department of Pathology, University of California Davis Medical Center, Davis, CA, USA
⁴Cogwellin LLC, 4 Industrial Way W, Eatontown NJ, USA

^*Correspondance to: Joel S. Ross 

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Abstract

Progressive neurodegenerative diseases plague millions of individuals both in the United States and across the world. Previous work has looked at tau hyperphosphorylation and amyloid deposits as key pathologic features in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). Unfortunately, clinical trials targeting these disease mechanisms have continued to fail likely due to disease progression past a point of no return. In other words, the treatment trials have targeted a pathologic endpoint that no longer mediates the pivot towards recovery or decline. Recent evidence however suggests that pathologic changes start occurring early following neurologic insult and are mediated by mechanisms previously poorly understood. Secondary injury cascades such as oxidative stress, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and neuroinflammation contribute to lasting damage within the brain and can be induced by a number of different risk factors. These injury cascades funnel into a common pathway of early tau acetylation, which may serve as the catalyst for progressive degeneration. Prevention of tau acetylation could possibly serve as a novel target for stopping neurodegeneration before it fully begins. In this theoretical review, we highlight what is known about tau acetylation and neurodegeneration and show pathologic evidence that tau acetylation is an important component of both AD and CTE.

Keywords:

Tau acetylation; Neurodegenerative diseases; Pathologic changes; Secondary injury cascades; Novel treatment target

Citation:

Lucke-Wold B, Seidel K, Udo R, Omalu B, Nolan R, Rosen C, et al. Role of Tau Acetylation in Alzheimer’s Disease and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy: the Way Forward for Successful Treatment. J Neurol Neurosurg Spine. 2018; 3(1): 1012.