1. Figure 4 Generation of tau seeds and spread of tau pathology
Figure 4 | Generation of tau seeds and spread of tau pathology. Tau seeds are generated by an imbalance between the activities of tau protein kinases and phosphatases, resulting in sP-tau (P-tau seeds). The sP-tau is either released from a disintegrated tangle-bearing neuron or exocytosed from an affected cell. The sP-tau templates extracellular tau (e-tau). The seeds are either endocytosed in a random fashion by other neurons in the vicinity, or are trans-synaptically taken up by the connected neurons and/or the affected neuron undergoes retrograde degeneration that serves as a distress signal to the connecting neurons. The connecting neurons respond to distress by altering their own protein kinase and phosphatase signalling, which results in hyperphosphorylation of tau. sP-tau, abnormally hyperphosphorylated tau seeds.
Iqbal, K. et al. (2015) Tau and neurodegenerative disease: the story so far
Nat. Rev. Neurol. doi: /nrneurol