Tauopathy

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Tauopathy Classification and external resources
MeSH	D024801

Tauopathy is a neurodegenerative disease resulting from the aggregation of tau protein.
Some examples of tauopathies are:

Alzheimer's disease
Progressive supranuclear palsy
Corticobasal degeneration
Frontotemporal lobar degeneration, also known as Pick's disease

The microtubule-associated protein MAP tau is the major protein subunit of neurofibrillary tangles (NFT’s) The MAP tau is as an elongated molecule (about 35-50 nm long, dependent on the isoform) without recognizable secondary structure ( Mandelkow et al., 1995). Its role may be likened to that of 'ties' which hold the microtubular tracks in place. The recent finding that mutations in the tau gene are responsible for frontotemporal dementia and parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17 (FTDP-17) has provided convincing evidence that tau protein plays a key role in neurodegeneration. This also suggests that distinct sets of tau isoforms expressed in different neuronal populations could lead to different pathologies (see review: Buee et al., 2000 ). It appears to be enriched in axons, probably playing a role in axonal development, and it is the inappropriate hyperphosphorylation of this protein in AD which contributes towards neurofibrillary tangle development