Tau oligomers as potential targets for early diagnosis of tauopathy.

The discovery of tau mutations in frontotemporal dementia has been a key event in neurodegenerative disease research. The rTg4510 mouse line expressing human tau with P301L FTDP-17-tau mutation has been established to understand the role of tau in neurodegeneration. Our histological analyses with tau antibodies and fluorescent tau ligands on rTg4510 mice revealed that tau oligomer formation was distinct from tangle formation. While in vivo imaging of mature tangles is now available, imaging biomarkers for tau oligomers would be useful for clarifying their roles in neurotoxicity and for diagnosing early-stage tau pathology.