Our study is the first to document a role for NLRP3 inflammasome signaling in cerebral endothelial cells following exposure to tau oligomers. Given the importance of endothelial cell functioning in BBB integrity, these data are significant in that they demonstrate a key role for endothelial cell signaling in tau pathogenicity and propose a mechanism by which tauopathies compromise BBB functional integrity. Taken together, these findings warrant future investigation into the therapeutic potential of NLRP3 inflammasome inhibition to ameliorate tauopathy-related barrier breach.
Seplovich et al. (2026) studied this question.