Novel form of Alzheimer's protein in spinal fluid indicates stage of disease

CHICAGO, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- A novel form of an Alzheimer's protein found in the fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord indicates what stage of the disease a person is in, and tracks with tangles of tau protein in the brain, according to a study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

The so-called microtubule binding region tau (MTBR tau) in the cerebrospinal fluid is an insoluble piece of the tau protein, and the primary component of tau tangles. The researchers realized that specific MTBR tau species were enriched in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease, and that measuring levels of the species in the cerebrospinal fluid that bathes the brain might be a way to gauge how broadly the toxic tangles have spread through the brain.