Models of β-amyloid induced Tau-pathology: the long and “folded” road to understand the mechanism

Ilie-Cosmin Stancu, Bruno Vasconcelos, Dick Terwel, Ilse Dewachter

The amyloid cascade hypothesis has been the prevailing hypothesis in Alzheimer's Disease research, although the final and most wanted proof i.e. fully successful anti-amyloid clinical trials in patients, is still lacking. This may require a better in depth understanding of the cascade. Particularly, the exact toxic forms of Abeta and Tau, the molecular link between them and their respective contributions to the disease process need to be identified in detail. Although the lack of final proof has raised substantial criticism on the hypothesis per se, accumulating experimental evidence in in vitro models, in vivo models and from biomarkers analysis in patients supports the amyloid cascade and particularly Abeta-induced Tau-pathology, which is the focus of this review. We here discuss available models that recapitulate Abeta-induced Tau-pathology and review some potential underlying mechanisms. The availability and diversity of these models that mimic the amyloid cascade partially or more complete, provide tools to study remaining questions, which are crucial for development of therapeutic strategies for Alzheimer's Disease.