Tau protein is hyperphosphorylated in a site-specific manner in apoptotic neuronal PC12 cells

Alterations in the status of microtubules contribute to the cytoskeletal rearrangements that occur during apoptosis. The microtubule-associated protein tau regulates microtubule dynamics and thus is likely to play an important role in the cytoskeletal changes that occur in apoptotic cells. Previously, we demonstrated that the phosphorylation of tau at the Tau-1 epitope was increased during neuronal PC12 cell apoptosis, and further that the microtubule binding of tau from apoptotic cells was significantly impaired because of altered phosphorylation. The fact that the microtubule-binding capacity of tau from apoptotic cells was reduced to approximately 30% of control values indicated that sites in addition to those within the Tau-1 epitope were hyperphosphorylated during apoptosis. In this study using a combination of immunological and biochemical approaches, numerous sites were found to be hyperphosphorylated on tau isolated from apoptotic cells. Further, during apoptosis, the activities of cell division control protein kinase (cdc2) and cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (cdk5) were selectively and significantly increased. The association of these two protein kinases with tau was also increased during apoptosis. These findings are intriguing because many of the sites found to be hyperphosphorylated on tau during apoptosis are also hyperphosphorylated on tau from Alzheimer's disease brain. Likewise, there are data indicating that in Alzheimer's disease the activities of cdc2 and cdk5 are also increased.     

Two-Dimensional Characterization of Paired Helical Filament-Tau from Alzheimer's Disease: Demonstration of an Additional 74-kDa Component and Age-Related Biochemical Modifications

Abstract: PHF-tau proteins are the major components of the paired helical filament (PHF) from Alzheimer's disease (AD) neurofibrillary lesions. They differ both qualitatively and quantitatively in their degree of phosphorylation when compared with native tau proteins. However, little is known about the extent and heterogeneity of phosphorylated sites or the isoform composition and the isoelectric variants of PHF-tau. Therefore, we have characterized PHF-tau proteins from cortical brain tissue homogenates of 13 AD patients using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Whatever the topographical origin of brain tissue homogenates, PHF-tau proteins shared the same two-dimensional gel electrophoresis profile made of a tau triplet of 55, 64, and 69 kDa. A 74-kDa hyperphosphorylated tau component was detected particularly in the youngest and most severely affected AD patients. This additional component of hyperphosphorylated tau was shown to correspond to the longest brain tau isoform. Furthermore, the isoelectric points of PHF-tau from older AD patients were significantly more basic, indicating a lower degree of phosphorylation. These results show that the severity of neurofibrillary degeneration of AD is modulated by age.     

Abnormal tau proteins from Alzheimer's disease brains. Purification and amino acid analysis

Abnormal tau proteins (PHF-tau) were isolated from Alzheimer's disease brains by treatment of paired helical filament enriched-fractions with perchloric acid and boiling of the acid precipitable fraction with beta-mercaptoethanol. These proteins were purified further by a second perchloric acid treatment. The purified PHF-tau proteins were soluble in buffers devoid of sodium dodecyl sulfate. However, they were similar to the abnormal tau extracted from paired helical filaments with sodium dodecyl sulfate, also named A68, in molecular mass (68, 64, and 60 kDa), isoelectric point (pI 5.5-6.5), reactivity with anti-tau antibodies, and in requirement for alkaline phosphatase treatment to bind the Tau-1 antibody. Compared to normal tau, the soluble PHF-tau contained 100% more glycine and 35% less lysine residue. The results suggest that besides phosphorylation other types of modification may be involved in differentiating PHF-tau from normal tau.     

Pseudohyperphosphorylation has differential effects on polymerization and function of tau isoforms

The microtubule-associated protein tau exists as six isoforms created through the splicing of the second, third, and tenth exons. The isoforms are classified by their number of N-terminal exons (0N, 1N, or 2N) and by their number of microtubule-binding repeat regions (3R or 4R). Hyperphosphorylated isoforms accumulate in insoluble aggregates in Alzheimer's disease and other tauopathies. These neurodegenerative diseases can be categorized based on the isoform content of the aggregates they contain. Hyperphosphorylated tau has the general characteristics of an upward electrophoretic shift, decreased microtubule binding, and an association with aggregation. Previously we have shown that a combination of seven pseudophosphorylation mutations at sites phosphorylated by GSK-3β, referred to as 7-Phos, induced several of these characteristics in full-length 2N4R tau and led to the formation of fewer but longer filaments. We sought to determine whether the same phosphorylation pattern could cause differential effects in the other tau isoforms, possibly through varied conformational effects. Using in vitro techniques, we examined the electrophoretic mobility, aggregation properties, and microtubule stabilization of all isoforms and their pseudophosphorylated counterparts. We found that pseudophosphorylation affected each isoform, but in several cases certain isoforms were affected more than others. These results suggest that hyperphosphorylation of tau isoforms could play a major role in determining the isoform composition of tau aggregates in disease.     

Proline-directed phosphorylation of human Tau protein.

The primary sequence of the microtubule-associated protein tau contains multiple repeats of the sequence -X-Ser/Thr-Pro-X-, the consensus sequence for the proline-directed protein kinase (p34cdc2/p58cyclin A). When phosphorylated by proline-directed protein kinase in vitro, tau was found to incorporate up to 4.4 mol of phosphate/mol of protein. Isoelectric focusing of the tryptic phosphopeptides demonstrated the presence of five distinct peptides with pI values of approximately 6.9, 6.5, 5.6-5.9, 4.7, and 3.6. Mapping of the tryptic phosphopeptides by high performance liquid chromatography techniques demonstrated three distinct peaks. Data from gas phase sequencing, amino acid analysis, and phosphoamino acid analysis suggest that proline-directed protein kinase phosphorylates tau at four sites. Each site demonstrates the presence of a proline residue on the carboxyl-terminal side of the phosphorylated residue. Two phosphorylation sites are located adjacent to the three-repeat microtubule-binding domain that has been found to be required for the in vivo co-localization of tau protein to microtubules. Two other putative phosphorylation sites are located within the identified epitope of the monoclonal antibody Tau-1. Phosphorylation of these sites altered the immunoreactivity of tau to Tau-1 antibody. Since the neuronal microtubule-associated protein tau is multiply phosphorylated in Alzheimer's disease, and Tau-1 immunoreactivity is similarly reduced in neurofibrillary tangles and enhanced after dephosphorylation, phosphorylation at one or more of these sites may correlate with abnormally phosphorylated sites in tau protein in Alzheimer's disease.     

New Phosphorylation Sites Identified in Hyperphosphorylated Tau (Paired Helical Filament-Tau) from Alzheimer's Disease Brain Using Nanoelectrospray Mass Spectrometry

Abstract: Paired helical filaments (PHFs) are the structural constituents of neurofibrillary tangles in Alzheimer's disease and are composed of hyperphosphorylated forms of the microtubule-associated protein tau (PHF-tau). Pathological hyperphosphorylation of tau is believed to be an important contributor to the destabilisation of microtubules and their subsequent disappearance from tangle-bearing neurons in Alzheimer's disease, making elucidation of the mechanisms that regulate tau phosphorylation an important research goal. Thus, it is essential to identify, preferably by direct sequencing, all of the sites in PHF-tau that are phosphorylated, a task that is incomplete because of the difficulty to date of purifying insoluble PHF-tau to homogeneity and in sufficient quantities for structural analysis. Here we describe the solubilisation of PHF-tau followed by its purification by Mono Q chromatography and reversed-phase HPLC. Phosphopeptides from proteolytically digested PHF-tau were sequenced by nanoelectrospray mass spectrometry. We identified 22 phosphorylation sites in PHF-tau, including five sites not previously identified. The combination of our new data with previous reports shows that PHF-tau can be phosphorylated on at least 25 different sites.     

Phosphorylation of microtubule-associated protein tau by Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II in its tubulin binding sites

The paired helical filaments (PHF) found in Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain are composed mainly of the hyperphosphorylated form of microtubule-associated protein tau (PHF-tau). It is well known that tau is a good in vitro substrate for Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaM kinase II). To establish the phosphorylation sites, the longest human tau (hTau40) was bacterially expressed and phosphorylated by CaM kinase II, followed by digestion with lysyl endoprotease. The digests were subjected to liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. We found that 5 of 22 identified peptides were phosphorylated. From the tandem mass spectrometry, two phosphorylation sites (serines 262 and 356) were identified in the tubulin binding sites. When tau was phosphorylated by CaM kinase II, the binding of tau to taxol-stabilized microtubules was remarkably impaired. As both serines 262 and 356 are reportedly phosphorylated in PHF-tau, CaM kinase II may be involved in hyperphosphorylation of tau in AD brain.     

Immunohistochemical evidence for reorganization of tau in the plaques and tangles in Alzheimer''s dissease

Summary Cytochemical and biochemical techniques have been used to assess the relationship of epitopes on the microtubuleassociated protein, tau, to the cytoskeletal pathology of Alzheimer's disease. The main probes were Tau-1 and Alz-50, two monoclonal antibodies which recognize tau and a potentially related 68kDa protein. Sequential treatment of tissue slices with combinations of the antibodies showed that each blocked the binding of the other to neurofibrillary tangles and neuritic plaques but not to normal axons. Western blot analysis of tau proteins isolated from Alzheimer's disease brains did not reveal such blocking patterns. The issue of steric hindrance affecting antibody binding in tissue sections was addressed by using Alz-50 in combination with Tau-2, another monoclonal antibody recognizing tau on blots and in Alzheimer's disease pathology. Neither antibody blocked the binding of the other to neurofibrillary tangles and neuritic plaques. These data suggest that the Alz-50 and Tau-1 epitopes are selectively organized in the tangles and plaques to be in close proximity which supports the hypothesis that in Alzheimer's disease pathology, tau is modified.     

Protein sequence and mass spectrometric analyses of tau in the Alzheimer's disease brain.

Tau with unusually slow mobilities in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was purified from the Sarkosyl-insoluble pellet of Alzheimer's disease brain homogenates. Such species of tau (PHF-tau) are considered to construct the framework of the sodium dodecyl sulfate-soluble form of paired helical filaments (PHF). Detailed comparison of peptide maps of PHF-tau and normal tau before and after dephosphorylation pointed to three anomalously eluted peaks which contained abnormally phosphorylated peptides, residues 191-225, 226-240, 260-267, and 386-438, according to the numbering of the longest tau isoform (Goedert, M., Spillantini, M. G., Jakes, R., Rutherford, D., and Crowther, R. A. (1989) Neuron 3, 519-526). Protein sequence and mass spectrometric analyses localized Thr-231 and Ser-235 as the abnormal phosphorylation sites and further indicated that each tau 1 site (residues 191-225) and the most carboxyl-terminal portion of the protein (residues 386-438) carries more than two abnormal phosphates. Ser-262 was also phosphorylated in a fraction of PHF-tau. Modifications other than phosphorylation, removal of the initiator methionine, and N alpha-acetylation at the amino terminus and deamidation at 2 asparaginyl residues were found in PHF-tau, but these modifications were also present in normal tau.     

The pathology of the neuronal cytoskeleton in Alzheimer's disease.

The two characteristic neuropathological lesions of Alzheimer's disease are the neurofibrillary tangles and the senile plaques. Neurofibrillary tangles are made of abnormal filaments (PHF) accumulating in neurons and mainly composed of a modified form of the microtubule-associated protein tau (PHF-tau). Senile plaques are composed of a cluster of dystrophic neurites surrounding an extracellular deposit of amyloid fibers made of a 42 amino-acid peptide (beta-amyloid peptide). The abnormal filaments contain the complete sequences of the different tau isoforms. The PHF-tau proteins can be distinguished from the normal tau proteins by the presence of several phosphorylated sites. One of these sites is phosphorylated by a calcium-calmodulin-dependent kinase. The relationship between PHF-tau and the cytoskeletal pathology in Alzheimer's disease is further discussed.     

Inactivation of integrin-linked kinase induces aberrant tau phosphorylation via sustained activation of glycogen synthase kinase 3beta in N1E-115 neuroblastoma cells

Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) is a focal adhesion serine/threonine protein kinase with an important role in integrin and growth factor signaling pathways. Recently, we demonstrated that ILK is expressed in N1E-115 neuroblastoma cells and controls integrin-dependent neurite outgrowth in serum-starved cells grown on laminin (Ishii, T., Satoh, E., and Nishimura, M. (2001) J. Biol. Chem. 276, 42994-43003). Here we report that ILK controls tau phosphorylation via regulation of glycogen synthase kinase-3beta (GSK-3beta) activity in N1E-115 cells. Stable transfection of a kinase-deficient ILK mutant (DN-ILK) resulted in aberrant tau phosphorylation in N1E-115 cells at sites recognized by the Tau-1 antibody that are identical to some of the phosphorylation sites in paired helical filaments, PHF-tau, in brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease. The tau phosphorylation levels in the DN-ILK-expressing cells are constant under normal and differentiating conditions. On the other hand, aberrant tau phosphorylation was not observed in the parental control cells. ILK inactivation resulted in an increase in the active form but a decrease in the inactive form of GSK-3beta, which is a candidate kinase involved in PHF-tau formation. Moreover, inhibition of GSK-3beta with lithium prevented aberrant tau phosphorylation in the DN-ILK-expressing cells. These results suggest that ILK inactivation results in aberrant tau phosphorylation via sustained activation of GSK-3beta in N1E-115 Cells. ILK directly phosphorylates GSK-3beta and inhibits its activity. Therefore, endogenous ILK protects against GSK-3beta-induced aberrant tau phosphorylation via inhibition of GSK-3beta activity in N1E-115 cells.     

Neighbored phosphorylation sites as PHF-tau specific markers in Alzheimer's disease

Neurofibrillary tangles, which represent a major pathological hallmark in Alzheimer's disease (AD), are deposits of the hyperphosphorylated microtubule-associated tau protein (PHF-tau). However, a link between the phosphorylation pattern and the cause or the progress of AD is still missing. The work reported here focused on PHF-tau specific local phosphorylation patterns at Thr212/Ser214 and Thr231/Ser235 using monoclonal antibodies (mAb) generated against correspondingly modified peptides. The binding motifs of the obtained six mAbs were characterized with non-, mono-, and double-phosphorylated peptides as well as terminally shortened sequences. Five mAbs stained neurofibrillary tangles, neuritic plaques, and neuropil threads from autoptic brains of AD cases. Four mAbs recognized PHF-tau without significant cross-reactivity towards normal human tau, bovine tau, and dephosphorylated PHF-tau in ELISA and Western blot analysis. Thus, double phosphorylation is sufficient to distinguish PHF-tau from all other tau versions and there is no need to postulate any PHF-tau specific conformation for this region.     

Glucose degradation product methylglyoxal enhances the production of vascular endothelial growth factor in peritoneal cells: role in the functional and morphological alterations of peritoneal membranes in peritoneal dialysis

The deposition of beta-amyloid peptide (A beta), the hyperphosphorylation of tau protein and the death of neurons in certain brain regions are characteristic features of Alzheimer's disease. It has been proposed that the accumulation of aggregates of A beta is the trigger of neurodegeneration in this disease. In support of this view, several studies have demonstrated that the treatment of cultured neurons with A beta leads to the hyperphosphorylation of tau protein and neuronal cell death. Here we report that lithium prevents the enhanced phosphorylation of tau protein at the sites recognized by antibodies Tau-1 and PHF-1 which occurs when cultured rat cortical neurons are incubated with A beta. Interestingly, lithium also significantly protects cultured neurons from A beta-induced cell death. These results raise the possibility of using chronic lithium treatment for the therapy of Alzheimer's disease.     

褪黑素对异丙肾上腺素诱导大鼠tau蛋白过度磷酸化的预防作用

异常过度磷酸化的微管相关蛋白tau是阿尔茨海默病(Alzheimer's disease,AD)患者大脑中神经原纤维缠结的主要组成部分.迄今为止,尚无有效的措施阻止tau蛋白的过度磷酸化.为探讨褪黑素(melatonin,Mel)对AD样tau蛋白过度磷酸化的预防作用,我们以β受体激动剂异丙肾上腺素(isoproterenol,IP)来复制AD样tau蛋白过度磷酸化的动物模型,在大鼠双侧海马注射IP前,以褪黑素作为保护组药物,于腹腔连续注射5 d.应用磷酸化位点特异性抗体(PHF-1和Tau-1)作免疫印迹和免疫组织化学检测tau蛋白的磷酸化水平,并用非磷酸化依赖的总tau蛋白抗体(111e)进行标准化.免疫印迹结果显示在注射IP 48 h后,tau蛋白在PHF-1表位的免疫反应显著增强,在Tau-1表位显著减弱,表明tau蛋白在Ser396/Ser404(PHF-1)和Ser199/Ser202(Tau-1)位点有过度磷酸化.免疫组织化学染色结果与免疫印迹结果相似,主要检测到在大鼠海马CA3区的神经纤维有tau蛋白过度磷酸化.褪黑素预处理大鼠可有效地阻止IP诱导tau蛋白在Tau-1和PHF-1位点的过度磷酸化.上述结果提示褪黑素可预防大鼠脑组织中由异丙肾上腺素引起的AD样tau蛋白的过度磷酸化.     

Epitope mapping of mAbs AT8 and Tau5 directed against hyperphosphorylated regions of the human tau protein

Post-mortem diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease relies on high numbers of senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) stained in distinct brain areas. NFTs mostly consist of hyperphosphorylated versions of the microtubule attached tau protein (PHF-tau) with more than 30 serine and threonine phosphorylation sites identified so far. Characterization of hyperphosphorylated tau regions and the hope to develop robust assays for early AD diagnosis relies mostly on phosphorylation-dependent monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) recognizing only disease-specific phosphorylation patterns. Here, we report that anti-PHF-tau mAb AT8 recognizes an epitope doubly phosphorylated at serine 202 and threonine 205, which was not influenced by a third phosphate group at serine 199. But mAb AT8 was cross-reactive to two doubly phosphorylated motifs containing either serines 199 and 202 or serines 205 and 208 of the human tau sequence. The epitope of anti-tau mAb Tau5 was mapped to the human tau sequence 218-225, which is not phosphorylated in vivo.     

Cell cycle-dependent phosphorylation and microtubule binding of tau protein stably transfected into Chinese hamster ovary cells.

Tau protein, a neuronal microtubule-associated protein, is phosphorylated in situ and hyperphosphorylated when aggregated into the paired helical filaments of Alzheimer's disease. To study the phosphorylation of tau protein in vivo, we have stably transfected htau40, the largest human tau isoform, into Chinese hamster ovary cells. The distribution and phosphorylation of tau was monitored by gel shift, autoradiography, immunofluorescence, and immunoblotting, using the antibodies Tau-1, AT8, AT180, and PHF-1, which are sensitive to the phosphorylation of Ser202, Thr205, Thr231, Ser235, Ser396, and Ser404 and are used in the diagnosis of Alzheimer tau. In interphase cells, tau becomes phosphorylated to some extent, partly at these sites; most of the tau is associated with microtubules. In mitosis, the above Ser/Thr-Pro sites become almost completely phosphorylated, causing a pronounced shift in M(r) and an antibody reactivity similar to that of Alzheimer tau. Moreover, a substantial fraction of tau is found in the cytoplasm detached from microtubules. Autoradiographs of metabolically labeled Chinese hamster ovary cells in interphase and mitosis confirmed that tau protein is more highly phosphorylated during mitosis. The understanding of tau phosphorylation under physiological conditions might help elucidate possible mechanisms for the hyperphosphorylation in Alzheimer's disease.     

Alz 50, a monoclonal antibody to Alzheimer's disease antigen, cross-reacts with tau proteins from bovine and normal human brain

Microtubule-associated protein tau from bovine brain reacted on immunoblots and on enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with a monoclonal antibody, Alz 50, which has previously been found to bind to an Alzheimer disease-specific antigen. The apparent affinity of binding of Alz 50 to tau was 2.1 X 10(-9) M on competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and it was in the same range as for Tau-1 (0.5 X 10(-9) M), an antibody raised against purified bovine tau proteins. Immunoblotting of trypsin-digested tau revealed differences between Alz 50 and Tau-1 binding sites. The binding of both antibodies to tau was not affected by prior treatment with phosphatase, indicating that the cross-reactivity of Alz 50 with tau is due to the presence of phosphate-independent epitope. This epitope then differs from phosphate-dependent tau epitopes often shared with other cytoskeletal proteins. Alz 50 and Tau-1 binding sites were present in all isoelectric (pI 6-8) and molecular weight variants of tau. In contrast, phosphate-dependent epitopes recognized by another tau-reactive antibody (NP14) were found mostly in acidic tau variants. Similarly to tau proteins from bovine brain, tau-enriched preparations from normal human brain contained Alz 50 and Tau-1 reactive sites in all isoelectric (pI 6.5-8.5) and molecular weight variants. Our observation of Alz 50 cross-reactivity with tau suggests a relationship between tau and the novel protein identified recently in Alzheimer brains.     

Casein kinase 1 delta phosphorylates tau and disrupts its binding to microtubules

Tau hyperphosphorylation precedes neuritic lesion formation in Alzheimer's disease, suggesting it participates in the tau fibrillization reaction pathway. Candidate tau protein kinases include members of the casein kinase 1 (CK1) family of phosphotransferases, which are highly overexpressed in Alzheimer's disease brain and colocalize with neuritic and granulovacuolar lesions. Here we characterized the contribution of one CK1 isoform, Ckidelta, to the phosphorylation of tau at residues Ser202/Thr205 and Ser396/Ser404 in human embryonic kidney 293 cells using immunodetection and fluorescence microscopy. Treatment of cells with membrane permeable CK1 inhibitor 3-[(2,3,6-trimethoxyphenyl)methylidenyl]-indolin-2-one (IC261) lowered occupancy of Ser396/Ser404 phosphorylation sites by >70% at saturation, suggesting that endogenous CK1 was the major source of basal phosphorylation activity at these sites. Overexpression of Ckidelta increased CK1 enzyme activity and further raised tau phosphorylation at residues Ser202/Thr205 and Ser396/Ser404 in situ. Inhibitor IC261 reversed tau hyperphosphorylation induced by Ckidelta overexpression. Co-immunoprecipitation assays showed direct association of tau and Ckidelta in situ, consistent with tau being a Ckidelta substrate. Ckidelta overexpression also produced a decrease in the fraction of bulk tau bound to detergent-insoluble microtubules. These results suggest that Ckidelta phosphorylates tau at sites that modulate tau/microtubule binding, and that the expression pattern of Ckidelta in Alzheimer's disease is consistent with it playing an important role in tau aggregation.     

The microtubule binding of Tau and high molecular weight Tau in apoptotic PC12 cells is impaired because of altered phosphorylation

Although the importance of the microtubule network throughout cell life is well established, the dynamics of microtubules during apoptosis, a regulated cell death process, is unclear. In a previous study (Davis, P. K., and Johnson, G. V. (1999) Biochem. J. 340, 51-58) we demonstrated that the phosphorylation of the microtubule-associated protein tau was increased during neuronal PC12 cell apoptosis. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the increased tau phosphorylation that occurred during apoptosis impaired the microtubule binding capacity of tau. This study is the first demonstration that microtubule-binding by tau and high molecular weight tau is significantly impaired as a result of altered phosphorylation during a naturally occurring process, apoptosis. Furthermore, co-immunofluorescence studies reveal for the first time that tau populations within an apoptotic neuronal PC12 cell exhibit differential phosphorylation. In control PC12 cells, Tau-1 staining (Tau-1 recognizes an unphosphorylated epitope) is evident throughout the entire cell body. In contrast, Tau-1 immunoreactivity in apoptotic PC12 cells is retained in the nuclear/perinuclear region but is significantly decreased in the cytoplasm up to the plasma membrane. The selective distribution of phosphorylated tau in apoptotic PC12 cells indicates that tau likely plays a significant role in the cytoskeletal changes that occur during apoptosis.     

Interaction of tau isoforms with Alzheimer's disease abnormally hyperphosphorylated tau and in vitro phosphorylation into the disease-like protein

The microtubule-associated protein tau is a family of six isoforms that becomes abnormally hyperphosphorylated and accumulates in neurons undergoing neurodegeneration in the brains of patients with Alzheimer disease (AD). We investigated the isoform-specific interaction of normal tau with AD hyperphosphorylated tau (AD P-tau). We found that the binding of AD P-tau to normal human recombinant tau was tau4L > tau4S > tau4 and tau3L > tau3S > tau3, and that its binding to tau4L was greater than to tau3L. AD P-tau also inhibited the assembly of microtubules promoted by each tau isoform and caused disassembly when added to preassembled microtubules. This inhibition and depolymerization of microtubules by the AD P-tau corresponded directly to the degree of its interaction with the different tau isoforms. In vitro hyperphosphorylation of recombinant tau (P-tau) conferred AD P-tau-like characteristics. Like AD P-tau, P-tau interacted with and sequestered normal tau and inhibited microtubule assembly. These studies suggest that the AD P-tau interacts preferentially with the tau isoforms that have the amino-terminal inserts and four microtubule binding domain repeats and that hyperphosphorylation of tau appears to be sufficient to acquire AD P-tau characteristics. Thus, lack of amino-terminal inserts and extra microtubule binding domain repeat in fetal human brain might be protective from Alzheimer's neurofibrillary degeneration.