Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40183825›Full record

ArticleActa neuropathologica2025

Seeding-competent early tau multimers are associated with cell type-specific transcriptional signatures.

Rahel Feleke, Simona Jogaudaite, Elisavet Velentza-Almpani, Leung Yeung-Yeung, Daniel Clode, Jeong Hun Ko, Ben Shin, Steve Matthews, Maria Otero-Jimenez, Marcelina J Wojewska and 6 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Acta neuropathologica, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

16 authors.

Rahel Feleke *Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London, W12 0NN, UK.
Simona Jogaudaite *Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London, W12 0NN, UK.
Elisavet Velentza-Almpani *Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London, W12 0NN, UK.
Leung Yeung-YeungDepartment of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London, W12 0NN, UK.
Daniel ClodeDepartment of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London, W12 0NN, UK.
Jeong Hun KoDepartment of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London, W12 0NN, UK.
Ben ShinDepartment of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London, W12 0NN, UK.
Steve MatthewsDepartment of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London, W12 0NN, UK.
Maria Otero-JimenezDepartment of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London, W12 0NN, UK.
Marcelina J WojewskaDepartment of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London, W12 0NN, UK.
Sandra Gray-RodriguezDepartment of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London, W12 0NN, UK.
Sarah J MarziDepartment of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London, W12 0NN, UK.
Maxwell P Spires-JonesCentre for Discovery Brain Sciences and UK Dementia Research Institute, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9JZ, UK.
Tara L Spires-JonesCentre for Discovery Brain Sciences and UK Dementia Research Institute, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9JZ, UK.
Michael R JohnsonDepartment of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London, W12 0NN, UK.
Javier Alegre-AbarrateguiDepartment of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London, W12 0NN, UK. j.alegre@imperial.ac.uk.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The initial molecular alterations of Alzheimer's disease (AD) are unknown. Established AD is characterized by profound structural and transcriptional alterations in the human brain, with the hallmark neuropathological features being beta-amyloid (Aβ) accumulation in senile plaques and hyperphosphorylated fibrillar tau in neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs). Previous evidence indicates that tau multimerization into small aggregates is one of the earliest molecular alterations, anticipating the accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau in NFTs. In this study, we investigated the seeding capacity of these early small tau multimers and the transcriptional changes associated with them, aiming to unveil early pathogenic processes in AD-type tau pathology. Early tau multimers visualized with tau proximity ligation assay (tau-PLA) in the post-mortem temporal cortex demonstrated high seeding activity detected by real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) assay and induction of aggregates in a tau biosensor cell line. Using single-nucleus transcriptomics, we showed that brain tissue harboring seeding-competent early tau multimers, but without significant NFT pathology, is associated with substantial gene expression alterations across diverse cell types when compared to control tissue lacking either multimers or NFTs. Differentially expressed genes, such as APP, MAPT, and PSEN1, exhibited significant enrichment of AD heritability in up-regulated genes within excitatory neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes. Pseudotime analysis exposed a positive correlation between the progression of tau pathology and the expression of genes marking reactive astrocytes. In summary, our results support the hypothesis that seeding-competent tau multimerization may initiate AD-type tau pathology cascades before the accumulation of tau in NFTs. This research contributes valuable insights into the early molecular events associated with AD, with implications for future diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.

Indexed as

Alzheimer DiseaseBraintau ProteinsAgedAged, 80 and overFemaleHumansMaleNeurofibrillary TanglesNeuronsProtein MultimerizationTranscriptomeMAPT protein, humantau ProteinsAlzheimer's diseaseEarly pathologyProximity-ligation assaySeedingSingle-nucleus RNA sequencingTau multimers

Identifiers

PMID40183825
PMCPMC11971191

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.