Our brain is a bit like a big computer that controls everything we do, think, and feel. Just like a computer, our brain has lots of parts that need to work well for it to do its job properly.
Two of these parts are the enzyme Fyn and the protein Tau. An enzyme is a type of protein that helps speed up reactions in our body, and Tau is a protein that’s important for our brain cells.
Researchers at The University of Queensland have been studying Fyn and Tau to learn more about a kind of dementia called frontotemporal dementia.
Dementia is a disease that affects the brain, causing problems with memory and thinking.
What Did the Researchers Find Out?
The research team, led by Professor Frederic Meunier and Dr. Ramón Martínez-Mármol, found out something very interesting about Fyn and Tau.
They discovered that Fyn becomes very active when it is trapped inside synapses. Synapses are like little meeting points where brain cells (neurons) can talk to each other.
The researchers found that when Fyn is active, it changes shape, slows down, and clumps together with other Fyn molecules. Then, it changes back and starts moving around again.
This cycle happens many, many times in our brain and helps our neurons communicate, which is very important for learning and remembering things.
However, when there’s too much or too little of this clumping, problems can occur. Professor Meunier explained that these problems could lead to diseases like dementia.
Tau Protein and Its Role in Dementia
In their earlier work, the researchers found out that Tau can affect our memory.
When they studied brain cells with a strange version of Tau, they found that Fyn clumped together more than usual. This extra clumping could start a bad chain reaction leading to dementia.
These Tau proteins can create small, gel-like droplets in the cells that act like spider webs, trapping Fyn and causing it to clump and become active for longer periods.
Cleaning Up Protein Clumps to Fight Dementia
Professor Meunier believes that these Tau droplets could be a target for new treatments for dementia.
If they can find a way to break up these droplets, they could stop the Fyn from clumping together too much and prevent dementia from happening.
This discovery gives us new hope in the fight against dementia. It’s a big step forward in our understanding of this disease and brings us closer to finding a cure.
If you care about dementia, please read studies about low choline intake linked to higher dementia risk, and how eating nuts can affect your cognitive ability.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies that blueberry supplements may prevent cognitive decline, and results showing higher magnesium intake could help benefit brain health.
The study was published in Molecular Psychiatry.
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