SCIENCE

Holth JK, Fritschi SK, Wang C, Pedersen NP, Cirrito JR, Mahan TE, Finn MB, Manis M, Geerling JC, Fuller PM, Lucey BP and Holtzman DM

Science. 2019 Jan 24. pii: eaav2546

DOI: 10.1126/science.aav2546

Abstract

The sleep-wake cycle regulates interstitial fluid (ISF) and cerebrospinal (CSF) levels of amyloid-β (Aβ) that accumulates in Alzheimer disease (AD). Furthermore, chronic sleep deprivation (SD) increases Aβ plaques. However, tau, not Aβ, accumulation appears to drive AD neurodegeneration. Here, we tested whether ISF/CSF tau and tau seeding/spreading was influenced by the sleep-wake cycle and SD. Mouse ISF tau was increased ~90% during normal wakefulness vs. sleep and ~100% during SD. Human CSF tau also increased over 50% during SD. In a tau seeding and spreading model, chronic SD increased tau pathology spreading. Chemogenetically-driven wakefulness in mice also significantly increased both ISF Aβ and tau. Thus, the sleep-wake cycle regulates ISF tau and sleep deprivation increases ISF and CSF tau as well as tau pathology spreading.