A critical appraisal of tau-targeting therapies for primary and secondary tauopathies.

Abstract

Primary tauopathies are neurological disorders in which tau protein deposition is the predominant pathological feature. Alzheimer's disease is a secondary tauopathy with tau forming hyperphosphorylated insoluble aggregates. Tau pathology can propagate from region to region in the brain, while alterations in tau processing may impair tau physiological functions. We reviewed literature on tau biology and anti-tau drugs using PubMed, meeting abstracts, and ClnicalTrials.gov. The past 15 years have seen >30 drugs interfering with tau aggregation, processing, and accumulation reaching the clinic. Initial results with tau aggregation inhibitors and anti-tau monoclonal antibodies have not shown clinical efficacy. The reasons for these clinical failures are unclear but could be linked to the clearing of physiological forms of tau by non-specific drugs. Research is now concentrating efforts on developing reliable translational animal models and selective compounds targeting specific tau epitopes, neurotoxic tau aggregates, and post-translational tau modifications.