TNF and Alzheimer disease: In addition, transcriptomic data derived from mouse microglial cells showed multiple genes upregulated in Toll-like receptor signaling and Alzheimer’s disease pathways, including TNF, TLR2, IL-1β, and COX subunits, suggesting that the mechanism of action that relates p-tau and MMSE scores may be through overactivation of pro-inflammatory microglial activity by Aβ peptides, TNF-mediated hyperphosphorylation of tau, and the infectious spread of pathological tau across healthy neurons.