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Updated: May 10, 2026

Cell-based Assay to Study Antibody-mediated Tau Clearance by Microglia
Published on: November 9, 2018
The involvement of cholinergic neurons in the spreading of tau pathology
Diana Simón1, Félix Hernández, Jesús Avila
1Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa, CSIC-UAM Madrid, Spain ; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red sobre Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas Madrid, Spain.
Abstract:
Long time ago, it was described the selective loss of cholinergic neurons during the development of Alzheimer disease (AD). Recently, it has been suggested that tau protein may play a role in that loss of cholinergic neurons through a mechanism involving the interaction of extracellular tau with M1/M3 muscarinic receptors present in the cholinergic neurons. This interaction between tau and muscarinic receptors may be a way, although not the only one, to explain the spreading of tau pathology occurring in AD.
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