Guam disease features chronic traumatic encephalopathy-like tau seeds in brain and spinal cord.

Potent tau seeding activity is detected in both brain and spinal cord tissues from Guam ALS/PDC cases, with Ala scan showing an aggregate incorporation pattern resembling CTE-type tau.

• Why it matters: The cause of ALS/PDC in Guam remains unclear, and defining the specific tau seed properties could clarify how its tau pathology relates to known tauopathies.
• What they did: Using FRET-based tau biosensor cells, the study confirmed tau seeding in Guam ALS/PDC brain samples and also detected potent seeding in spinal cord, then applied alanine mutational scanning to map the seeding profile.
• The result: The Ala scan pattern resembles chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)-type tau, consistent with cryo-EM findings of CTE-type filaments, and the structural, seeding, and post-mortem regional distribution together suggest ALS/PDC is a CTE-like tauopathy.

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