Why Microtubules Should Be Considered as One of the Supplementary Targets for Designing Neurotherapeutics.

In the past decade of research, drugs targeting amyloid beta (Aβ) have failed in clinical amelioration of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This has led to researchers searching for more attractive targets. Here, we discuss one such approach of developing future neurotherapeutics by targeting microtubules. Microtubules are the key structural and functional elements of neurons and have been found to be closely associated with neurodegenerative disorders like AD due to their association with tau. Tau is a microtubule associated protein whose abnormal phosphorylation leads to microtubule destabilization giving rise to variable tauopathies associated with different neurodegenerative disorders. Due to this association of microtubules with tau and their importance in neurons, microtubules can be considered as one of the important supplementary targets for designing future neurotherapeutics.