Background: Platelets (thrombocytes) are small anuclear cells that play
an important role in blood clotting. They are activated and dysfunctional in
brain disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and depression. Platelets
express the amyloid-precursor protein (APP) and release beta-amyloid into
the blood. Recent evidence reports that platelets also express the
microtubule-associated protein tau. In this study, we further characterized the
molecular appearance of tau and examined its alterations in patients with
neurocognitive impairment. Methods: Platelets were isolated from
patients with AD, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or depression and compared to
healthy controls. Subsequently, FACS analysis was employed to characterize
platelets for platelet surface P-selectin (CD62P). In order to enhance the
detection levels, samples were pooled (15 samples per group) and analyzed by
Lumipulse Assay, Western blots, and mass spectrometry. Results: Tau is
expressed in human platelets and tau levels were decreased in platelets isolated
from patients with AD and depression. Additionally, phospho-tau-181 was slightly
increased in patients with depression. We show that tau is highly fragmented
(20–40 kDa) in the platelet extracts using Western blot analysis. The mass
spectrometry data did not show a clear identification of tau in the pooled
platelet samples. Conclusions: Our data reveal that tau is found in
platelets, possibly in a highly fragmented form. Tau levels may be used as a
potential diagnostic approach to differentiate AD and depression from healthy
controls.