Developmental expression of human tau in Drosophila melanogaster glial cells induces motor deficits and disrupts maintenance of PNS axonal integrity, without affecting synapse formation.

Tauopathies are a class of neurodegenerative diseases characterized by the abnormal phosphorylation and accumulation of the microtubule-associated protein, tau, in both neuronal and glial cells. Though tau pathology in glial cells is a prominent feature of many of these disorders, the pathological contribution of these lesions to tauopathy pathogenesis remains largely unknown. Moreover, while tau pathology is predominantly found in the central nervous system, a role for tau in the cells of the peripheral nervous system has been described, though not well characterized.