Widespread hyperphosphorylated tau in the working memory circuit early after cortical impact injury of brain (Original study)

A series of neurological and psychiatric symptoms occur after traumatic brain injury (TBI), with cognitive dysfunction being one of the most prominent sequela. Given that tau hyperphosphorylation is an important cause of cognitive impairment in patients of Alzheimer's disease, our present study detected the presence of hyperphosphorylated tau (p-tau), mainly at Ser404, in multiple brain regions, including the ipsilateral parietal cortex, contralateral hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, immediately after the injury in a mouse TBI model; these changes lasted for at least 4 w. All of these brain regions play important roles in working memory. Hyperphosphorylated tau protein was primarily located in neurons and was accompanied by axonal injury and dendritic spine degeneration. Our study demonstrated that p-tau spreads gradually and selectively from the injured cortex to other brain regions after TBI and that all of the affected regions are part of the working memory circuit. These findings provide experimental support for the role of p-tau in cognitive impairment in the early phase after TBI.