WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists stumbled onto a hint that measuring a toxic protein tied to Alzheimer’s disease just might one day be useful in diagnosing a different brain disease in football players and others who have suffered repeated blows to the head.
Doctors evaluate symptoms such as mood swings and memory loss to try to tell if patients may have CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a disease linked to concussions and other brain trauma. But other diseases cause similar symptoms, and a CTE diagnosis can only be confirmed by examining the brain after death.
The new clue involves a protein called tau that normally supports neurons but becomes abnormal in Alzheimer’s, tangling inside those nerve cells. Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis were using autopsy samples to study a tau fragment called eMTBR-tau243 that may help track those tangles when they found something unusual: a patient with high levels of that biomarker even though records showed the person didn’t have Alzheimer’s but advanced CTE instead.
The researchers turned to a larger collection of autopsied brain and other samples, and eventually tested blood stored from 11 people who had been classified as having CTE.
Compared to healthy people, levels of eMTBR-tau243 were higher in those with advanced CTE, said study coauthor Chihiro Sato, a WashU assistant neurology professor. That biomarker couldn’t reliably identify early-stage CTE.
It is an interesting but very preliminary finding, requiring far larger studies to see if there is a real connection, cautioned Dr. Rudolph Castellani, a neuropathologist at Northwestern University who wasn’t involved with the research.
Abnormal tau is found in several brain diseases, many of which can overlap in older adults, adding to the difficulty in teasing apart its role in any one disease, including CTE. Sato, who studies such tauopathies, also stressed much more research is needed.
The findings were published late Friday by the medical journal JAMA and presented at a scientific meeting in Japan.
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FILE - A human brain affected by Alzheimer's disease is displayed at the Museum of Neuroanatomy at the University at Buffalo in Buffalo, N.Y., on Oct. 7, 2003. (AP Photo/David Duprey, File)
MIAMI (AP) — Bam Adebayo finished with 37 points and 14 rebounds, Giannis Antetokiunmpo also scored 37 and the Miami Heat took control of East Group B by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 133-121 in an NBA Cup game Friday night.
It was the second time the Heat had two players score 37 in the same game: LeBron James and Dwyane Wade did it in 2013.
Davion Mitchell had 22 points and a career-high-tying 17 assists for Miami, which won its third straight. Ryan Conwell added 20 off the bench for the Heat.
Donovan Mitchell scored 25 points to lead Cleveland, which got 22 from Tyrese Proctor, 20 from James Harden, 16 from Jaylon Tyson and 12 from Meleek Thomas.
Miami was without Klay Thompson (sprained ankle) and Pelle Larsson (illness).
Cleveland played without forward Evan Mobley, who sat out for the first time this season with a sprained left great toe. "The MRI came back clean. Sprained, definitely sore, but we don't expect it to be a long-term thing at all,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said.
With the win, the Heat move to 2-0 and are now alone atop East Group B in the NBA Cup standings. They control their destiny now when it comes to making the knockout stage; a sweep of remaining group-stage games against Philadelphia and New York — both on the road — would get Miami into the quarterfinals. Even going 1-1 in those matchups would give the Heat a solid shot at a wild-card berth.
Cleveland falls to 1-1 in group play and will almost certainly need to win both of its remaining games — home against Indiana, then at New York — to have a shot at advancing. No team in NBA Cup history has made the knockout stage with less than a 3-1 record in group play.
Cavaliers: Host Dallas on Saturday.
Heat: Host Detroit on Saturday.
See AP’s full NBA coverage here
Miami Heat forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (7) stands on the court during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Cleveland Cavaliers Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Miami Heat guard Davion Mitchell (2) defends Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson gestures during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Miami Heat forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (7) lets go of the basketball as Cleveland Cavaliers guard James Harden (1) grabs it during the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo drives to the basket during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Cleveland Cavaliers Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)
