A protein long blamed for the brain damage seen in Alzheimer’s disease has now been found in astonishingly high levels in healthy newborn babies, challenging decades of medical dogma.
The discovery could transform our understanding of both brain development and Alzheimer’s disease itself. The protein, called p-tau217, has been viewed as a hallmark of neurodegeneration – yet a new study reveals it’s even more abundant in the brains of healthy infants.
Rather than being toxic, p-tau217 may be essential for building the brain during early development.
To understand why this matters, it helps to know what tau normally does. In healthy brains, tau is a protein that helps keep brain cells stable and allows them to communicate – essential functions for memory and overall brain function. Think of it like the beams inside a building, supporting brain cells so they can function properly.
But in Alzheimer’s disease, tau gets chemically changed into a different form called p-tau217. Instead of doing its normal job, this altered protein builds up and clumps together inside brain cells, forming tangles that impair cell function and lead to memory loss typical of the disease.
For years, scientists have assumed high levels of p-tau217 always spell trouble. The new research suggests they’ve been wrong.
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