Astrocytes’ sugar stash: A new metabolic target for fighting tauopathies
A study in Alzheimer’s & Dementia reveals a protective role for astrocytic glycogen metabolism in tauopathies. Researchers found that the glycogenolytic enzyme PYGM is upregulated in the brains of patients with frontotemporal lobar degeneration and in a mouse model of tauopathy. Astrocyte-specific knockout of PYGM worsened cognitive deficits and tau-related pathology in mice, while overexpression of the enzyme or direct supplementation with lactate—a key metabolic product of glycogen breakdown—attenuated these harmful effects. The findings suggest that astrocytic PYGM supports neuronal health by maintaining lactate-mediated metabolic coupling between astrocytes and neurons.
Why it might matter to you:
This work highlights a specific, druggable metabolic pathway within brain support cells that directly influences the progression of protein-folding diseases. For a professional focused on actionable biomarkers, it underscores the potential value of looking beyond neuronal signals to the metabolic state of glial cells. Validating such a pathway could open avenues for companion diagnostics that track astrocyte function or lactate dynamics as part of a multimodal assessment of disease activity.
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