Tau protein

The tau proteins (abbreviated from tubulin associated unit) are a group of six highly soluble protein isoforms produced by alternative splicing from the gene MAPT (microtubule-associated protein tau). They have roles primarily in maintaining the stability of microtubules in axons and are abundant in the neurons of the central nervous system (CNS), where the cerebral cortex has the highest abundance. They are less common elsewhere but are also expressed at very low levels in CNS astrocytes and oligodendrocytes.

MAPT
Available structures
PDBOrtholog search: PDBe RCSB
Identifiers
AliasesMAPT, DDPAC, FTDP-17, MAPTL, MSTD, MTBT1, MTBT2, PPND, PPP1R103, TAU, microtubule associated protein tau, Tau proteins, tau-40
External IDsOMIM: 157140 MGI: 97180 HomoloGene: 74962 GeneCards: MAPT
Orthologs
SpeciesHumanMouse
Entrez

4137

17762

Ensembl

ENSG00000186868
ENSG00000276155
ENSG00000277956

ENSMUSG00000018411

UniProt

P10636

P10637

RefSeq (mRNA)

NM_001038609
NM_010838
NM_001285454
NM_001285455
NM_001285456

RefSeq (protein)
Location (UCSC)Chr 17: 45.89 – 46.03 MbChr 11: 104.23 – 104.33 Mb
PubMed search
Wikidata
View/Edit HumanView/Edit Mouse

Pathologies and dementias of the nervous system such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease are associated with tau proteins that have become hyperphosphorylated insoluble aggregates called neurofibrillary tangles. The tau proteins were identified in 1975 as heat-stable proteins essential for microtubule assembly, and since then they have been characterized as intrinsically disordered proteins.

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