Single-cell Spatial Transcriptional Profiling Uncovers Heterogeneous Cellular Responses to Pathogenic Tau in a Mouse Model of Neurodegeneration

Abstract

Intracellular tau accumulation contributes to neurodegeneration and systemic dysfunction. Although tau primarily aggregates in neurons as neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), it also affects other cell types through poorly understood mechanisms. To define the molecular characteristics of tangle-bearing neurons and their influence on surrounding cells, we used CosMx SMI to evaluate the expression of 950 genes in more than 265,000 cells from rTg(tauP301L)4510 tauopathy and control mouse brains. In the cerebral cortex, tau pathology disrupted the excitatory-inhibitory neuron balance and altered pathways critical for myelination, similar myelin changes were observed in postmortem brain tissue from patients with progressive supranuclear palsy. In the hypothalamus, tau accumulation was associated with transcriptional changes linked to pathways involved in body weight and metabolic regulation. These findings reveal molecular mechanisms underlying both cell-autonomous and non-autonomous effects of tauopathy and identify targets for further investigation into tau pathogenesis and its systemic impact.