RNA stimulates aggregation of microtubule-associated protein tau into Alzheimer-like paired helical filaments
Open accessAbstract
The microtubule-associated protein tau is the main component of the paired helical filaments (PHFs) of Alzheimer's disease, the most common senile dementia. To understand the origin of tau's abnormal assembly we have studied the influence of other cytosolic components. Here we report that PHF assembly is strongly enhanced by RNA. The RNA-induced assembly of PHFs is dependent on the formation of intermolecular disulfide bridges involving Cys322 in the third repeat of tau, and it includes the dimerization of tau as an early intermediate. Three-repeat constructs polymerize most efficiently, two repeat constructs are the minimum number required for assembly, and even all six full-length isoforms of tau can be induced to form PHFs by RNA.
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Anionic experimental cofactor models, including heparin and RNA or its associated granules, promote Tau aggregation.
“anionic experimental cofactor models have been described to promote aggregation: heparin (Goedert et al., 1996; Fichou et al., 2018) and RNA or its associated granules (Kampers et al., 1996; Zhang et al., 2017; Dinkel et al., 2015).”
From Tau PTM Profiles Identify Patient Heterogeneity and Stages of Alzheimer’s Disease (2020) · cites this paper as Kampers et al., 1996
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- Authors
- Kampers, T., Friedhoff, P., Biernat, J., Mandelkow, E.-M., & Mandelkow, E.
- Affiliations
- Max Planck Unit for Structural Molecular Biology (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Mandelkow, E.
- Venue
- FEBS Letters
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 1996-12-16
- Volume
- 399
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 344-349
- ISSN
- 0014-5793 (ISSN-L)
- 1873-3468
- OpenAlex
- W2040351396
- Cited by
- 548
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 28 · 2025: 25 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 41 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 33 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 25 · 2012: 13
- FWCI
- 6.74
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- FEBS Letters (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DESY Publication Database (PUBDB) (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
- Keywords
- tau protein, paired helical filaments, RNA, Alzheimer's disease, protein aggregation, disulfide bonds, tau isoforms, microtubule-associated proteins
- MeSH terms
- Alzheimer Disease, Humans, Kinetics, Microscopy, Electron, RNA, tau Proteins
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