Cited by 209Alzheimer's disease research and treatmentsDementia and Cognitive Impairment ResearchCerebrospinal fluid and hydrocephalus

Characterization of Novel CSF Tau and ptau Biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Disease

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Meredith Jr., Jere E., Sankaranarayanan, Sethu, Guss, Valerie, Lanzetti, Anthony J., Berisha, Flora, Neely, Robert J., Slemmon, J. Randall, Portelius, Erik +5 more·2013·PLoS ONE

Abstract

Cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) Aβ42, tau and p181tau are widely accepted biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Numerous studies show that CSF tau and p181tau levels are elevated in mild-to-moderate AD compared to age-matched controls. In addition, these increases might predict preclinical AD in cognitively normal elderly. Despite their importance as biomarkers, the molecular nature of CSF tau and ptau is not known. In the current study, reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography was used to enrich and concentrate tau prior to western-blot analysis. Multiple N-terminal and mid-domain fragments of tau were detected in pooled CSF with apparent sizes ranging from <20 kDa to ~40 kDa. The pattern of tau fragments in AD and control samples were similar. In contrast, full-length tau and C-terminal-containing fragments were not detected. To quantify levels, five tau ELISAs and three ptau ELISAs were developed to detect different overlapping regions of the protein. The discriminatory potential of each assay was determined using 20 AD and 20 age-matched control CSF samples. Of the tau ELISAs, the two assays specific for tau containing N-terminal sequences, amino acids 9-198 (numbering based on tau 441) and 9-163, exhibited the most significant differences between AD and control samples. In contrast, CSF tau was not detected with an ELISA specific for a more C-terminal region (amino acids 159-335). Significant discrimination was also observed with ptau assays measuring amino acids 159-p181 and 159-p231. Interestingly, the discriminatory potential of p181 was reduced when measured in the context of tau species containing amino acids 9-p181. Taken together, these results demonstrate that tau in CSF occurs as a series of fragments and that discrimination of AD from control is dependent on the subset of tau species measured. These assays provide novel tools to investigate CSF tau and ptau as biomarkers for other neurodegenerative diseases.

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Authors
Meredith Jr., J. E., Sankaranarayanan, S., Guss, V., Lanzetti, A. J., Berisha, F., Neely, R. J., Slemmon, J. R., Portelius, E., Zetterberg, H., Blennow, K., Soares, H., Ahlijanian, M., & Albright, C. F.
Affiliations
  • Bristol-Myers Squibb (United States) (US)
  • University of Gothenburg (SE)
  • UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology (GB)
Venue
PLoS ONE
Published
2013-10-07
Volume
8
Issue
10
Pages
e76523
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2024790026
Cited by
209
References
60
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 28 · 2018: 29 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 11
FWCI
8.10
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Bristol-Myers Squibb
  • Vetenskapsrådet
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Cerebrospinal fluid and hydrocephalus
Keywords
Alzheimer's disease, cerebrospinal fluid, tau protein, phosphorylated tau, biomarkers, preclinical Alzheimer's disease, tau isoforms, diagnostic discrimination
MeSH terms
Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Alzheimer Disease, Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Molecular Weight, Peptide Fragments, Phosphorylation, Sensitivity and Specificity, Blotting, Western, Reproducibility of Results, Biomarkers, tau Proteins, Chromatography, Reverse-Phase

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