Zombies of Alzheimer's Disease (AD)

In a previous blog post Tau vs. Amyloid - An Alzheimer's Dilemma
I wrote about Tau as a mitigating factor in AD. Lately there is more and more attention being paid about Tau.

In a recent published report* Tau has been referenced in a creative interpretation of zombie like cells, more scientifically referred to as senescent cells. In the life cycle of a cell there is a senescence period when the cell becomes stressed and has ceased it's normal function. At this stage it can actually cause more harm than good.

According to senior author Miranda E. Orr, Ph.D., VA research health scientist at the South Texas Veterans Health Care System, "When cells enter this stage, they change their genetic programming and become pro-inflammatory and toxic"  These cells then secrete a substance that kills adjacent healthy cells.

Although the study was done in mice, it was found that tau proteins surrounding cells caused cell senescence. Furthermore, senescence was not found with amyloid.  In other studies to confirm this, reducing tau genetically also reduced senescence. The reverse also held true. Increasing tau genetically increased senescence.

When the researchers used a combination of the drugs dasatinib and quercetin cellular senescence decreased and brain structure and function improved. In fact the drugs were able to clear the tau pathology and stop, or even reverse, the progression of AD.

While much work has to be done, the authors believe that the effects of the drug combination may work in human being to reduce senescence. More clinical studies are necessary.


*University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. (2018, August 22). Stressed, toxic, zombie cells seen for 1st time in Alzheimer's: Finding may apply to 20 brain diseases; drug tandem stops decline in old mice. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 20, 2018 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180822092706.htm