Designing a Model to Explore Tau's Unfolded Protein Response

It is known that the accumulation of the protein tau leads to neuronal loss that cause the mental deficits associated with AD. While tau’s relationship with increased neurotoxicity in the brain is known, the method as to how tau triggers the activation of the unfolded protein response (UPR) is unclear and has not been highly explored.
The purpose of this research is to design a cell model in which ER stress caused by tau accumulation can be generated, and then investigated for changes in different ER stress-associated proteins. The data provided by this experiment will allow for a working in vitro model of tau UPR and its effects on ER stress that will allow enhanced understanding of how tau causes neuronal death in AD.