{"id":231781,"date":"2026-02-21T01:24:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T07:24:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/02\/grant-supports-research-into-how-microglia-may-spread-toxic-tau-in-alzheimers"},"modified":"2026-02-21T01:24:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T07:24:06","slug":"grant-supports-research-into-how-microglia-may-spread-toxic-tau-in-alzheimers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/02\/grant-supports-research-into-how-microglia-may-spread-toxic-tau-in-alzheimers","title":{"rendered":"Grant supports research into how microglia may spread toxic tau in Alzheimer\u2019s"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A paper describing Hopp\u2019s upcoming study published on the CureAlz website, titled, \u201cHow Do Microglia Contribute to the Spread of Tau Pathology in Alzheimer\u2019s Disease?\u201d, says that while tau aggregates are a defining feature of Alzheimer\u2019s disease and closely track with brain cell loss, memory problems and cognitive decline, much still isn\u2019t known about how it spreads or what role the brain\u2019s immune system plays in the process.<\/p>\n

There is evidence, it says, that toxic forms of tau, which have become \u201cmisfolded\u201d or dysfunctional, act like a \u201cbad influence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they encounter nearby healthy tau proteins, they cause them to misfold as well, triggering a chain reaction that spreads from one brain region to another,\u201d according to the paper. \u201cMicroglia \u2026 are among the first to encounter these toxic tau \u2018seeds.\u2019 Normally, microglia protect the brain by clearing debris and helping repair damage. But growing evidence suggests that microglia may also contribute to tau\u2019s spread by engulfing misfolded tau and inadvertently releasing it, thereby amplifying its harmful effects.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A researcher with the Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer\u2019s and Neurodegenerative Diseases at UT Health San Antonio has received a two-year, $402,500 grant award from the Cure Alzheimer\u2019s Fund to study how microglia, the brain\u2019s resident immune cells, paradoxically might contribute to the spread of toxic forms of tau protein in the disease.<\/p>\n

Sarah C. Hopp, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology with the Biggs Institute and the South Texas Alzheimer\u2019s Disease Research Center, along with her lab have been instrumental in uncovering the behavior of microglia. UT Health San Antonio is the academic health center of The University of Texas at San Antonio.<\/p>\n

Starting this month, Hopp\u2019s lab will test the hypothesis that microglial uptake of tau is a key mechanism driving its spread through the brain, and that specific molecular pathways determine whether this process protects or harms neurons. The Cure Alzheimer\u2019s Fund, also known as CureAlz, is a nonprofit organization that funds research \u201cwith the highest probability of preventing, slowing or reversing Alzheimer\u2019s disease.\u201d<\/p>\n

Continue reading \u201cGrant supports research into how microglia may spread toxic tau in Alzheimer\u2019s\u201d | ><\/a><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A paper describing Hopp\u2019s upcoming study published on the CureAlz website, titled, \u201cHow Do Microglia Contribute to the Spread of Tau Pathology in Alzheimer\u2019s Disease?\u201d, says that while tau aggregates are a defining feature of Alzheimer\u2019s disease and closely track with brain cell loss, memory problems and cognitive decline, much still isn\u2019t known about how [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":701,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1495,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-231781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech-medical","category-health","category-neuroscience"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/701"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231781\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}