Evidence map›Paper›PMID 22461630›Full record

ArticleThe Journal of biological chemistry2012

Trans-cellular propagation of Tau aggregation by fibrillar species.

Najla Kfoury, Brandon B Holmes, Hong Jiang, David M Holtzman, Marc I Diamond

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The Journal of biological chemistry, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 325 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
325citing papers in PubMed
24.5field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
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

325 citing papers in PubMed, 554 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Article
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  8. Article
  9. Intercellular propagation of RIPK1/RIPK3 amyloid fibrils.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Water-directed pinning is key to tau prion formation.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  14. Multimodal spatial gradients to explain regional susceptibility to fibrillar tau in Alzheimer's disease.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025
    Article
  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Review
  19. Review
  20. Article

265 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

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

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Najla KfouryDepartment of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri 63110, USA.
Brandon B Holmes
Hong Jiang
David M Holtzman
Marc I Diamond
Washington University in St. Louis · US

Funding

WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ALZHEIMERS DISEASE RESEARCH CENTERP50AG005681 · NIA · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI MORRIS, JOHN · 1985 to 2019
$52.1M
Washington University Center for Translational NeuroscienceP30NS057105 · NINDS · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI HOLTZMAN, DAVID M. · 2006 to 2011
$8.7M
CELL-CELL TRANSFER AND PROPAGATION OF TAU AGGREGATESR01NS071835 · NINDS · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI DIAMOND, MARC I · 2010 to 2014
$1.6M
Tracking the Propagation of Misfolded Tau: A Study of Cellular Uptake and TrafficF31NS079039 · NINDS · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI HOLMES, BRANDON BLAKE · 2012 to 2014
$83k
NIA NIH HHS P50 AG005681NIA NIH HHS P50AG005681NINDS NIH HHS 1R01NS071835-01NINDS NIH HHS F31 NS079039NINDS NIH HHS P30 NS057105NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS071835
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Aggregation of the microtubule associated protein Tau is associated with several neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer disease and frontotemporal dementia. In Alzheimer disease, Tau pathology spreads progressively throughout the brain, possibly along existing neural networks. However, it is still unclear how the propagation of Tau misfolding occurs. Intriguingly, in animal models, vaccine-based therapies have reduced Tau and synuclein pathology by uncertain mechanisms, given that these proteins are intracellular. We have previously speculated that trans-cellular propagation of misfolding could be mediated by a process similar to prion pathogenesis, in which fibrillar Tau aggregates spread pathology from cell to cell. However, there has been little evidence to demonstrate true trans-cellular propagation of Tau misfolding, in which Tau aggregates from one cell directly contact Tau protein in the recipient cell to trigger further aggregation. Here we have observed that intracellular Tau fibrils are directly released into the medium and then taken up by co-cultured cells. Internalized Tau aggregates induce fibrillization of intracellular Tau in these naive recipient cells via direct protein-protein contact that we demonstrate using FRET. Tau aggregation can be amplified across several generations of cells. An anti-Tau monoclonal antibody blocks Tau aggregate propagation by trapping fibrils in the extracellular space and preventing their uptake. Thus, propagation of Tau protein misfolding among cells can be mediated by release and subsequent uptake of fibrils that directly contact native protein in recipient cells. These results support the model of aggregate propagation by templated conformational change and suggest a mechanism for vaccine-based therapies in neurodegenerative diseases.

Indexed as

Models, BiologicalProtein FoldingAlzheimer DiseaseAntibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-DerivedAntibodies, NeutralizingFrontotemporal DementiaHEK293 CellsHumansMultiprotein Complexestau ProteinsAntibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-DerivedAntibodies, NeutralizingMultiprotein Complexestau Proteins

Identifiers

PMID22461630
PMCPMC3365982
OpenAlexW2032355167

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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 OpenQuestion graph.