Home › Research › Disease mechanisms
Classification of tauopathies from human brain homogenates through salt-modulated tau amplification
Alessia Santambrogio, Michael A. Metrick, Pu Xu, Nicholas C. T. Gallagher, Shunsuke Koga, Bernardino Ghetti, Dennis W. Dickson, Byron W. Caughey et al.. Apollo (University of Cambridge), 2026-01-15
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
This method differentiated eight tauopathies, including Alzheimer's disease, Pick disease, progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), corticobasal degeneration (CBD), argyrophilic grain disease (AGD), frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism associated with chromosome 17 with N279K mutation (FTDP-17 N279K), and globular glial tauopathies types II and III. Subclassification of 4R tauopathies was achieved by modulating salt conditions and analyzing aggregation profiles. FTIR confirmed preservation of conformational differences. This salt-modulated, heparin-free RT-QuIC platform enables sensitive tauopathy classification based on strain-specific kinetics and structure. It offers a practical tool for diagnostic development, mechanistic studies, and therapeutic screening.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Santambrogio, A., Metrick, M. A., Xu, P., Gallagher, N. C. T., Koga, S., Ghetti, B., et al. (2026). Classification of tauopathies from human brain homogenates through salt-modulated tau amplification. Apollo (University of Cambridge). https://doi.org/10.17863/cam.124670
Vancouver
Santambrogio A, Metrick MA, Xu P, Gallagher NCT, Koga S, Ghetti B, et al. Classification of tauopathies from human brain homogenates through salt-modulated tau amplification. Apollo (University of Cambridge). 2026. doi:10.17863/cam.124670.
BibTeX
@article{santambrogio2026-f796c86a,
author = {Santambrogio, Alessia and Metrick, Michael A. and Xu, Pu and Gallagher, Nicholas C. T. and Koga, Shunsuke and Ghetti, Bernardino and Dickson, Dennis W. and Caughey, Byron W. and others},
title = {{Classification of tauopathies from human brain homogenates through salt-modulated tau amplification}},
journal = {Apollo (University of Cambridge)},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.17863/cam.124670},
url = {https://doi.org/10.17863/cam.124670}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- This method differentiated eight tauopathies, including Alzheimer's disease, Pick disease, progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), corticobasal degeneration (CBD), argyrophilic grain disease (AGD), frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism associated with chromosome 17 with N279K mutation (FTDP-17 N279K), and globular glial tauopathies types II and III.
- Subclassification of 4R tauopathies was achieved by modulating salt conditions and analyzing aggregation profiles.
- FTIR confirmed preservation of conformational differences.
- This salt-modulated, heparin-free RT-QuIC platform enables sensitive tauopathy classification based on strain-specific kinetics and structure.
- It offers a practical tool for diagnostic development, mechanistic studies, and therapeutic screening.
Why it matters
This laboratory method used salt conditions to distinguish eight different tauopathies, including Alzheimer's disease, based on how tau aggregates. It is a diagnostic and research tool, not a treatment, and its clinical usefulness has not yet been established.
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 32/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record and institution's track record, so those were left out: it earned 30 of the 93 points we could judge it on, which is 32 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Apollo (University of Cambridge)) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 5 / 5 | 2026 — within 1 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 0 / 7 | Cited 0 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.0 citations a year over 2 year(s) since 2026 |
| Impact for its field and year | 0 / 6 | Cited 0.0× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 0 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author Michele Vendruscolo: h-index 118 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 0 institution(s) in 0 countries — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 1 / 2 | Not in PubMed, but has a DOI |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Points | 30 / 93 | Scored on 18 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 30 of the 93 points we could judge it on is 32 out of 100. |
| Total | 32 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Related studies in Disease mechanisms
Also tagged “phosphorylated”
732 studies in the library carry the topic tag “phosphorylated”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 732 tagged studies.