Figure 1

Tau protein physiological functions and pathological role. a) Physiological function: Tau protein promotes assembly and stabilization of microtubule architecture. Tau phosphorylation sites and isoforms are in charge of regulating tau function; b) Pathological role: Aberrant phosphorylation at various serine/threonine sites attenuates tau binding, which results in microtubule destabilization followed by accumulation in paired helical filaments (PHFs) and formation of insoluble aggregates (neurofibrillary tangles; NFTs).