{"id":232743,"date":"2026-03-07T03:51:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T09:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/03\/degenerating-tanycytes-disrupt-tau-removal-shaping-alzheimers-progression"},"modified":"2026-03-07T03:51:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T09:51:11","slug":"degenerating-tanycytes-disrupt-tau-removal-shaping-alzheimers-progression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/03\/degenerating-tanycytes-disrupt-tau-removal-shaping-alzheimers-progression","title":{"rendered":"Degenerating Tanycytes Disrupt Tau Removal, Shaping Alzheimer\u2019s Progression"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/degenerating-tanycytes-disrupt-tau-removal-shaping-alzheimers-progression.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cTanycytes, whose cell bodies line the walls and floor of the third ventricle and extend long, slim processes that terminate in \u2018endfeet\u2019 that contact these fenestrated capillaries,\u201d act as a shuttle between the CSF and the blood, the authors wrote. The new study suggests they also act as a kind of molecular \u201cexit ramp,\u201d moving tau out of the CSF and into the bloodstream for disposal. When these cells become fragmented, that clearance system falters. Tau, which should be ferried away, instead lingers\u2014much like traffic backing up when a major off\u2011ramp closes\u2014allowing toxic protein species to accumulate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur findings reveal a previously underappreciated, disease\u2011relevant role for tanycytes in neurodegeneration,\u201d said corresponding author Vincent Pr\u00e9vot, PhD, of INSERM. \u201cFocusing on tanycyte health could be a way to improve tau clearance and limit disease progression.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Using rodent and cellular models, the researchers showed that tanycytes take up tau from the CSF and release it into pituitary portal capillaries, enabling its entry into the systemic circulation, according to the authors. When the team blocked vesicular transport in tanycytes, tau clearance from CSF to blood slowed dramatically, and tau pathology intensified. As the authors wrote, \u201cBlocking tanycytic vesicular transport blunts CSF\u2011to\u2011blood tau efflux and potentiates tau pathology.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cTanycytes, whose cell bodies line the walls and floor of the third ventricle and extend long, slim processes that terminate in \u2018endfeet\u2019 that contact these fenestrated capillaries,\u201d act as a shuttle between the CSF and the blood, the authors wrote. The new study suggests they also act as a kind of molecular \u201cexit ramp,\u201d moving [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":662,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1495,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-232743","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\/232743","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\/662"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232743\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}