Fig. 1.

The role of MTs in the formation of plaques in the brain. MTs have sex- and age-dependent effects on amyloidosis pathways throughout yet unknown mechanisms. At early ages, MTs seem to promote β-secretase activity directly (solid line) and eventually further processing of APP indirectly (dashed lines) and are thus detrimental. In contrast, at advanced ages, MTs decrease the amyloid cascade while promoting increased plaque formation (and concomitant microgliosis) and changing the Aβ_1–40:Aβ_1–42 ratios in cortex vs hippocampus in a sex-dependent manner