Cited by 2,061Alzheimer's disease research and treatmentsAdvanced Electron Microscopy Techniques and ApplicationsDementia and Cognitive Impairment Research

Cryo-EM structures of tau filaments from Alzheimer’s disease

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Fitzpatrick, Anthony W. P., Falcon, Benjamin, He, Shaoda, Murzin, Alexey G., Murshudov, Garib, Garringer, Holly J., Crowther, R. Anthony, Ghetti, Bernardino +2 more·2017·Nature

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease is the most common neurodegenerative disease, and there are no mechanism-based therapies. The disease is defined by the presence of abundant neurofibrillary lesions and neuritic plaques in the cerebral cortex. Neurofibrillary lesions comprise paired helical and straight tau filaments, whereas tau filaments with different morphologies characterize other neurodegenerative diseases. No high-resolution structures of tau filaments are available. Here we present cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) maps at 3.4-3.5 Å resolution and corresponding atomic models of paired helical and straight filaments from the brain of an individual with Alzheimer's disease. Filament cores are made of two identical protofilaments comprising residues 306-378 of tau protein, which adopt a combined cross-β/β-helix structure and define the seed for tau aggregation. Paired helical and straight filaments differ in their inter-protofilament packing, showing that they are ultrastructural polymorphs. These findings demonstrate that cryo-EM allows atomic characterization of amyloid filaments from patient-derived material, and pave the way for investigation of a range of neurodegenerative diseases.

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Authors
Fitzpatrick, A. W. P., Falcon, B., He, S., Murzin, A. G., Murshudov, G., Garringer, H. J., Crowther, R. A., Ghetti, B., Goedert, M., & Scheres, S. H. W.
Affiliations
  • MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (GB)
  • Indiana University Indianapolis (US)
Corresponding author
  • Goedert, Michel
  • Scheres, Sjors H. W.
Venue
Nature
Published
2017-07
Volume
547
Issue
7662
Pages
185-190
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
OpenAlex
W2727929522
Cited by
2,061
References
58
Citations by year
2026: 197 · 2025: 224 · 2024: 225 · 2023: 224 · 2022: 214 · 2021: 231 · 2020: 280 · 2019: 227 · 2018: 193 · 2017: 42 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1
FWCI
150.60
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • IUScholarWorks (Indiana University) (submittedVersion)
  • Purdue University Indianapolis (Indiana University) (submittedVersion)
  • PMC
Funders
  • Medical Research Council (MC_EX_MR/N027892/1)
  • National Institute on Aging (P30AG010133)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Structural Biology › Advanced Electron Microscopy Techniques and Applications
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
Keywords
Alzheimer's disease, tau filaments, paired helical filaments, straight filaments, tau aggregation, protofilaments, tauopathy, neurodegenerative diseases
MeSH terms
Aged, Alzheimer Disease, Amino Acid Sequence, Amyloid, Brain, Female, Humans, tau Proteins, Cryoelectron Microscopy, Protein Aggregation, Pathological

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