Why are more and more people suffering from depression? A group of scientists from the Severo Ochoa Molecular Biology Center has verified that mutations in the human protein Tau induce this disorder in mice. This protein is found in neurons and its alterations are related to some neurodegenerative diseases.
When the researchers expressed the mutated protein in large quantities in the brains of healthy mice, they observed degeneration in some areas of the hippocampus as well as marked depressive behavior. "The death of a special type of stem cells present in the brain, caused by the overexpression of the Tau protein, seems to cause in mice a loss of their ability to fight for survival, which is considered a behavior similar to depression human, "explained the authors of the study published in the journal Neuroscience .
According to the authors, the fact that some areas of the brain such as the hippocampus are especially sensitive to the alteration of the Tau protein must be taken into account to prevent and treat neurodegenerative diseases. This area, related to memory and learning processes, is one of the few areas of the brain where new neurons are born during adult life. It has been argued that without this neuronal regeneration the brain is unable to store new memories and diseases such as Alzheimer's can occur.
