Microglia, the brain's immune cells, extend tiny tunnels to pull toxic proteins out of neurons, then break them down. A new study shows these tunneling nanotubes can extract tau and alpha-synuclein, the protein clumps behind Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. This natural cleanup process could become a treatment target.
Could microscopic tunnels in your brain hold the secret to preventing Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease? It sounds like science fiction, right? But it's real, I swear. This new study was just published in Neuron and builds upon prior research about the fascinating topic of— wait for it— tunneling nanotubes. Literal tunnels between cells, including cells of different types, that allow them to exchange internal components. Now, what they found first is that microglia can form tunneling nanotubes with neurons, reaching out and forming cytoplasmic connections with neurons, and through these nanotubes suck up harmful protein aggregates that play roles in Alzheimer's disease, like tau, and Parkinson's disease, like alpha-synuclein. The microglia use these nanotubes to suck up these toxic proteins right out of the neurons and then destroy them. That's pretty amazing, right?
