Doxycycline interferes with tau amyloid aggregation abolishing its associated neuronal toxicity

LUCIANA MEDINA; FLORENCIA GONZÁLEZ-LIZÁRRAGA; ANTONIO DOMINGUEZ MEIJIDE; DIEGO PLOPER; VALERIA PARRALES; SABRINA SEQUEIRA; MARIA SOL CIMA-OMORI; MARKUS ZWECKSTETTER; DEL-BEL, ELAINE; PATRICK P. MICHEL; TIAGO FLEMING OUTEIRO; RITA RAISMAN-VOZARI; ROSANA CHEHÍN; SERGIO B. SOCIAS

Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience

Frontiers

Lugar: Lausanne; Año: 2021

1663-4365

Tauopathies are neurodegenerative disorders with increasing incidence and still without cure. The extensive time required for development and approval of novel therapeutics highlights the need for testing and repurposing known safe molecules. Since doxycycline impacts α-synuclein aggregation and toxicity, herein we tested its effect on tau. We found that doxycycline reduces amyloid aggregation of the 2N4R and K18 isoforms of tau protein in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, in a cell free system doxycycline also prevents tau seeding and in cell culture reduces toxicity of tau aggregates. Overall, our results expand the spectrum of action of doxycycline against aggregation-prone proteins, opening novel perspectives for its repurposing as a disease-modifying drug for tauopathies.