Insights to develop tau-directed therapeutics to protect the synaptic integrity for tauopathies

Abstract

Tauopathy is characterized by the abnormal aggregation of tau proteins. In order to develop drugs for tauopathies, a variety of different therapeutic strategies have been investigated. Synapse loss is a hallmark of tauopathies and is reportedly related to cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's disease as well. Emerging evidence suggests that pathogenic tau species are linked to synaptic dysfunction and synapse loss in tauopathies. As such, a potential therapeutic approach to ameliorate synaptic dysfunction and counteract synaptic loss due to pathogenic tau holds promise. This review highlights the pathological links between tau pathology and synaptic integrity and current efforts to develop therapeutics rescuing synaptic dysfunction for tauopathies, which will help to understand the association between tau and synapses and develop disease-modifying drugs for tauopathies.