Tau binds ATP and induces its aggregation.

Tau is a microtubule-associated protein mainly found in neurons. The protein is associated with process of microtubule assembly, which plays an important role in intracellular transport and cell structure of the neuron. Tauopathies are a group of neurodegenerative diseases specifically associated with tau abnormalities. While a well-defined mechanism remains unknown, most facts point to tau as a prominent culprit in neurodegeneration. In most cases of Tauopathies, aggregates of hyperphosphorylated tau have been found. Two proposals are present when discussing tau toxicity, one being the aggregation of tau proteins and the other points toward a conformational change within the protein. Previous work we carried out showed tau hyperphosphorylation promotes tau to behave abnormally resulting in microtubule assembly disruption as well as a breakdown in tau self-assembly. We found that tau's N-terminal region has a putative site for ATP/GTP binding. In this paper we demonstrate that tau is able to bind ATP and not GTP, that this binding induces tau self-assembly into filaments. At 1 mM ATP the filaments are 4-7 nm in width, whereas at 10 mM ATP the filaments appeared to establish lateral interaction, bundling and twisting, forming filaments that resembled the Paired Helical Filaments (PHF) isolated from Alzheimer disease brain. ATP-induced self-assembly is not energy dependent because the nonhydrolysable analogue of the ATP induces the same assembly.

Prevalence of dysglycemia among coronary artery bypass surgery patients with no previous diabetic history.

BACKGROUND: Dysglycemia is a major risk factor for atherosclerosis. In many patient populations dysglycemia is under-diagnosed. Patients with severe coronary artery disease commonly have dysglycemia and there is growing evidence that dysglycemia, irrespective of underlying history of diabetes, is associated with adverse outcome in coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery patients, including longer hospital stay, wound infections, and higher mortality. As HbA1c is an easy and reliable way of checking for dysglycemia we routinely screen all patients undergoing CABG for elevations in HbA1c. Our hypothesis was that a substantial number of patients with dysglycemia that could be identified at the time of cardiothoracic surgery despite having no apparent history of diabetes. METHODS: 1045 consecutive patients undergoing CABG between 2007 and 2009 had HbA1c measured pre-operatively. The 2010 American Diabetes Association (ADA) diagnostic guidelines were used to categorize patients with no known history of diabetes as having diabetes (HbA1c ≥ 6.5%) or increased risk for diabetes (HbA1c 5.7-6.4%). RESULTS: Of the 1045 patients with pre-operative HbA1c measurements, 40% (n = 415) had a known history of diabetes and 60% (n = 630) had no known history of diabetes. For the 630 patients with no known diabetic history: 207 (32.9%) had a normal HbA1c (< 5.7%); 356 (56.5%) had an HbA1c falling in the increased risk for diabetes range (5.7-6.4%); and 67 (10.6%) had an HbA1c in the diabetes range (6.5% or higher). In this study the only conventional risk factor that was predictive of high HbA1c was BMI. We also found a high HbA1c irrespective of history of DM was associated with severe coronary artery disease as indicated by the number of vessels revascularized. CONCLUSION: Among individuals undergoing CABG with no known history of diabetes, there is a substantial amount of undiagnosed dysglycemia. Even though labeling these patients as "diabetic" or "increased risk for diabetes" remains controversial in terms of perioperative management, pre-operative screening could lead to appropriate post-operative follow up to mitigate short-term adverse outcome and provide high priority medical referrals of this at risk population.

"Clicked" sugar-curcumin conjugate: modulator of amyloid-ß and tau peptide aggregation at ultralow concentrations.

The synthesis of a water/plasma soluble, noncytotoxic, "clicked" sugar-derivative of curcumin with amplified bioefficacy in modulating amyloid-ß and tau peptide aggregation is presented. Curcumin inhibits amyloid-ß and tau peptide aggregation at micromolar concentrations; the sugar-curcumin conjugate inhibits Aß and tau peptide aggregation at concentrations as low as 8 nM and 0.1 nM, respectively. In comparison to curcumin, this conveniently synthesized Alzheimer's drug candidate is a more powerful antioxidant.