Tauopathies: Emerging discoveries on tau protein, with a special focus on Alzheimer's disease

Tauopathies are a group of neurodegenerative disorders characterized by the abnormal accumulation of mutated tau protein, leading to neuronal damage and neuroinflammation.

• Tau protein plays essential roles in brain function but can become hyperphosphorylated and aggregate into toxic forms in neurodegenerative disorders.
• Understanding tau's post-translational modifications (PTMs) is critical for unraveling its role in pathological conditions.
• Insights into tau's structure and aggregation mechanisms are important for exploring its propagation in neurodegeneration.
• Tau's potential as a biomarker and the development of targeted therapies for conditions like Alzheimer's disease are actively being investigated.
• Dysfunctional PTMs are major contributors to tau protein aggregation, which is a focus of current therapeutic strategies.

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