Detection of Human Tau Protein Aggregation

The tau protein stabilizes microtubule structures in the brain. These structures are supporting the nutrient transport between neurons. Abnormal tau protein leads to collapse of structure and transport – plaques will be developed. This happens in patients that undergo neurodegeneration, e.g. in Alzheimer´s. The level of a patient´s tau protein can therefore be an indicator of a neurodegeneration disease state. To that end Cisbio developed a tau aggregation kit that can be applied to cell cultures, brain tissue extracts, and recombinant proteins. This application note demonstrates the measurement of tau aggregates using a sandwich immunoassay, applying an anti-tau monoclonal antibody labeled either with terbium-cryptate or d2, ensuring assay quality reproducibility and signal quality.