The news coverage of professional athletes and their struggle with CTE is becoming more commonplace and mainstream. The movie “Concession” demonstrates the personality and mentality change that can be directly related to the traumatic brain or nerve injury. The current proposed connection between the common brain and nerve degeneration diseases are the TAU protein. Commonly associated diseases are Alzheimer’s, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). The possible connection between these diseases is believed to be the TAU protein and the cease of normal function. However, the exact role and function of the TAU protein is still unknown. The currently accepted mechanism is the hyperphosphorylation of the TAU protein. The phosphate molecules inhibit non-covalent interactions between the TAU protein and the microtubules. This causes the TAU protein to be ineffective at stabilizing the microtubules which permits for the formation of neurofibrillary tangles. These tangles inhibit the neuron’s axonal transport system preventing the synaptic communication between neurons, and results in neuronal death. Large scale neuronal death results in a major loss in brain function including but not limited to memory loss, inability to perform basic tasks, loss of body function, inability to properly digest, inability to articulate properly, and mood and personality instability. This research aims at modeling the hyperphosphorylation of the TAU protein utilizing full atomistic molecular dynamic simulations to show aggregation of the protein from degradation.

Aggregation and degradation of the TAU protein utilizing atomistic molecular dynamic simulation

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