CODSWALLOP

Microtubule-associated protein tau

Homo sapiens · seed P10636 · 758 aa · family defined as ≥30% identity to that seed · compiled 07 October 2026

CATH and SCOP identifiers come from the RCSB's own structure annotations, which the Domains panel already reads, so these are looked up rather than guessed at.

242Entries 243Entities 63Constructs 5Organisms 17Ligand-bound
1.75 ÅBest res.
2.99 ÅMedian res.

Every figure here is counted over the whole family rather than quoted from one entry.

The reference structure

9BXI, the structure every other member of this family is superposed onto. Rendered by the RCSB and embedded here: the live app shows an interactive viewport, which a document that fetches nothing cannot.

Rendered structure of 9BXI
9BXI at the RCSB · open it in the 3D viewer

Which residues anyone has ever seen

How many of this family's constructs contain each residue of the seed. A trough is a stretch nobody has put in a construct, which is a construct-design answer rather than a disorder one.

1379758236 constructs

Constructs, most-used first

63 distinct constructs across 242 entries. 236 polymer entities differ from the UniProt canonical sequence in some way, 2 carry a recognised expression tag and 0 carry a fusion partner.

"Differs from canonical" is not the same as "engineered". The canonical sequence is the full gene product, so a secreted protein whose structures all start after its signal peptide counts every one of them as different: lysozyme's most-used construct, residues 19–147 on 1,239 entities, is simply the mature protein. Read the construct column below for what was actually done, rather than this count.

EntitiesLengthBest (Å)Best entryWhat was made
85 441 1.86 7QKY 2 internal deletions
44 382 1.75 8Q98 3 internal deletions
18 75 2.31 8UQ7 residues 622-696
8 73 2.70 8FUG residues 623-695
6 77 2.70 9BXI residues 621-697
6 441 2.30 9EOE 2 internal deletions; V654M
6 758 2.29 9PGO matches the canonical sequence
2 31 1.80 6DC8 residues 696-726
2 48 3.30 6QJM residues 591-638
2 94 2.61 8P34 residues 602-695; S602K, Q605K, C608I +5 more
2 96 2.50 7YPG residues 613-708; N613M
2 107 3.10 10IJ residues 590-696; S622I
2 107 3.80 6VH7 residues 591-697
2 194 4.10 7PQC residues 519-712
2 202 residues 515-716
2 352 2.48 9H5G 4 internal deletions; T498D, S519D, T522D +9 more
2 352 2.69 9CGZ 4 internal deletions
2 412 2.30 8ORG 3 internal deletions
2 430 3.40 29OU 2 internal deletions
2 441 2.50 9BBL 2 internal deletions; S713E, S717E, T720E +1 more
2 449 3.10 9O8E His6; 2 internal deletions
1 20 2.00 6DCW residues 543-562
1 22 2.90 9S2B residues 614-635
1 23 2.10 6BB4 residues 703-725
1 24 1.95 6H0E residues 698-721

Showing the 25 most-used of 63.

Positions people deliberately mutate

Columns where the wild-type residue still dominates but a real minority carries something else, which is a different question from "what varies across species".

P618S 5% S622K 4% V654M 3% S717E 3% T720E 3% S721E 3% K574Q 3% S713E 3% S602K 3% C608I 3% K611T 3% I614L 3% V617Q 3% T534L 2% T548D 2% S552D 2% S555A 2% Q605K 2% D612E 2% C639S 2% N613M 2% A483S 2% S501G 2% S519D 2% T522D 2% T529D 2% S531D 2% A556S 2% R559K 2% L560A 2%

What it assembles into

Oligomeric stateChainsEntriesShare
hexameric6 97 40.1%
decameric10 35 14.5%
trimeric3 32 13.2%
pentameric5 20 8.3%
nonameric9 10 4.1%
octadecameric18 8 3.3%
15-meric15 7 2.9%
monomeric1 6 2.5%

140 entries have the depositor's assembly corroborated by PISA, 99 carry the depositor's word alone and 2 were assigned by PISA where the depositor gave none. The middle figure is not a disagreement: PISA may have returned nothing or never run.

What binds it

GDP GDP6 entries GTP GTP6 entries A1B91 A1B914 entries KDH KDH1 entries S9C S9C1 entries Y9H Y9H1 entries X6R X6R1 entries A1AHG A1AHG1 entries EDT EDT1 entries TA1 TA11 entries
ComponentClassNameEntriesBest (Å)
GDPcofactor Guanosine-5'-Diphosphate 6 2.21
MGion Magnesium Ion 6 2.21
GTPcofactor Guanosine-5'-Triphosphate 6 2.21
GOLcryoprotectant Glycerol 5 1.80
PO4ion Phosphate Ion 4 1.80
A1B91ligand 7-Nitro-N-[2-(2-{[(3p)-3-(1h-Pyrrolo[2,3-C]pyridin-1-Yl)isoquino 4 2.31
GLYbuffer Glycine 2 3.30
CLion Chloride Ion 2 1.92
Kion Potassium Ion 1 1.92
KDHligand (2r,3r)-5,7-Dihydroxy-2-(3,4,5-Trihydroxyphenyl)-3,4-Dihydro-2h- 1 3.80
S9Cligand 7-(6-Fluoranylpyridin-3-Yl)-5~{H}-Pyrido[4,3-B]indole 1 2.60
Y9Hligand (5s)-2-[4-(2-Fluoroethyl)piperidin-1-Yl]pyrimido[1,2-A]benzimida 1 2.70
X6Rligand 6-Fluoro-3-(1h-Pyrrolo[2,3-C]pyridin-1-Yl)isoquinolin-5-Amine 1 2.31
A1AHGligand 4-Hydroxy-3-{(E)-[4-(6-Methyl-1,3-Benzothiazol-2-Yl)phenyl]diaze 1 3.30
EDTligand {[-(Bis-Carboxymethyl-Amino)-Ethyl]-Carboxymethyl-Amino}-Acetic 1 3.10
TA1ligand Taxol 1 2.94
PEGcryoprotectant Di(Hydroxyethyl)ether 1 2.21
PGEcryoprotectant Triethylene Glycol 1 2.21
P6Gcryoprotectant Hexaethylene Glycol 1 2.21
1PEcryoprotectant Pentaethylene Glycol 1 2.21

How it crystallises

Parsed from the free text 9 depositors typed into _exptl_crystal_grow.pdbx_details, out of 9 entries that recorded anything at all. Median pH 7.0 (range 6.5 to 7.0).

Precipitants

PEG × Ammonium sulfate ×

Buffers

Sodium cacodylate × HEPES × Tris ×

Which entries to trust

239 entries carry a wwPDB validation report: 197 clean, 32 worth a check and 10 with something to explain. Median clashscore 1.49, median RSRZ outliers 1.55%, median R-free minus R-work 0.052. 239 have released structure factors.

Across species

OrganismEntriesBest (Å)Ligand-boundSeed covered
Homo sapiens236 1.75 16 100%
Mus musculus4 1.95 0 100%
synthetic construct1 2.21 1 3%
Homo1 2.90 0 10%
Mus1 3.40 0 100%

Seed sequence

758 residues, numbered every ten. Every identity figure in this document is measured against this sequence.

active or binding site modified residue or glycosylation disulphide cysteine transmembrane or signal the 15 most-substituted positions

1MAEPRQEFEV MEDHAGTYGL GDRKDQGGYT MHQDQEGDTD AGLKESPLQT PTEDGSEEPG
61SETSDAKSTP TAEDVTAPLV DEGAPGKQAA AQPHTEIPEG TTAEEAGIGD TPSLEDEAAG
121HVTQEPESGK VVQEGFLREP GPPGLSHQLM SGMPGAPLLP EGPREATRQP SGTGPEDTEG
181GRHAPELLKH QLLGDLHQEG PPLKGAGGKE RPGSKEEVDE DRDVDESSPQ DSPPSKASPA
241QDGRPPQTAA REATSIPGFP AEGAIPLPVD FLSKVSTEIP ASEPDGPSVG RAKGQDAPLE
301FTFHVEITPN VQKEQAHSEE HLGRAAFPGA PGEGPEARGP SLGEDTKEAD LPEPSEKQPA
361AAPRGKPVSR VPQLKARMVS KSKDGTGSDD KKAKTSTRSS AKTLKNRPCL SPKHPTPGSS
421DPLIQPSSPA VCPEPPSSPK YVSSVTSRTG SSGAKEMKLK GADGKTKIAT PRGAAPPGQK
481GQANATRIPA KTPPAPKTPP SSGEPPKSGD RSGYSSPGSP GTPGSRSRTP SLPTPPTREP
541KKVAVVRTPP KSPSSAKSRL QTAPVPMPDL KNVKSKIGST ENLKHQPGGG KVQIINKKLD
601LSNVQSKCGS KDNIKHVPGG GSVQIVYKPV DLSKVTSKCG SLGNIHHKPG GGQVEVKSEK
661LDFKDRVQSK IGSLDNITHV PGGGNKKIET HKLTFRENAK AKTDHGAEIV YKSPVVSGDT
721SPRHLSNVSS TGSIDMVDSP QLATLADEVS ASLAKQGL

Sites are UniProt's curated features where the seed is a UniProt accession; the substituted positions are measured from this family's own alignment rather than annotated, and only the fifteen most substituted are marked: every position carrying a minority substitution would be most of the protein, because the family holds orthologues. A residue can carry more than one and is drawn with the first that applies, in the order of the key above.

Primary citations

One record per paper, not per entry.

YearCitation
2026 The Pick fold in tau filaments from human MAPT mutants. Acta Neuropathol doi:10.1007/s00401-026-03049-8
2026 Cryo-EM structure of pro-aggregant P301L/S320F double-mutant tau filaments formed in mouse brains following peripheral AAV delivery Biorxiv doi:10.64898/2026.01.19.700132
2026 Twelve phosphomimetic mutations induce the assembly of recombinant full-length human tau into paired helical filaments. Elife doi:10.7554/eLife.104778
2026 Repositioning of polyubiquitin alters the pathologic tau filament structure. Nat.Struct.Mol.Biol. doi:10.1038/s41594-026-01879-4
2026 Distinct tau filament folds in familial frontotemporal dementia due to the MAPT S305I mutation. Biorxiv doi:10.64898/2026.02.12.705620
2026 Structural evidence that RNA contributes to polymorphism of tau amyloid fibrils. Iscience doi:10.1016/j.isci.2026.115501
2026 Dopamine-Induced Tau Modification Prevents Pathological Phosphorylation and Generates a Distinct Fibril Polymorph. J.Am.Chem.Soc. doi:10.1021/jacs.5c22156
2025 Tau filaments with the Alzheimer fold in human MAPT mutants V337M and R406W. Nat.Struct.Mol.Biol. doi:10.1038/s41594-025-01498-5
2025 Serial amplification of tau filaments using Alzheimer's brain homogenates and C322A or C322S recombinant tau. Febs Lett. doi:10.1002/1873-3468.70141
2025 Structures of Delta D421 Truncated Tau Fibrils. J.Mol.Biol. doi:10.1016/j.jmb.2025.169051
2025 How short peptides disassemble tau fibrils in Alzheimer's disease. Nature doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09244-z
2025 Cryo-EM studies of amyloid-beta fibrils from human and murine brains carrying the Uppsala APP mutation ( Delta 690-695). Acta Neuropathol Commun doi:10.1186/s40478-025-02120-x
2025 Seeding biosensor cell line that reproduces the Alzheimer tau fold. J.Biol.Chem. doi:10.1016/j.jbc.2025.110952
2024 Disease-specific tau filaments assemble via polymorphic intermediates. Nature doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06788-w
2024 The structure of a Tau fragment bound to tubulin prompts new hypotheses on Tau mechanism and oligomerization. Pnas Nexus doi:10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae487
2024 Novel tau filament folds in individuals with MAPT mutations P301L and P301T. Biorxiv doi:10.1101/2024.08.15.608062
2024 Tau filaments with the chronic traumatic encephalopathy fold in a case of vacuolar tauopathy with VCP mutation D395G. Acta Neuropathol doi:10.1007/s00401-024-02741-x
2024 Cryo-EM structure of Alzheimer's disease tau filaments with PET ligand MK-6240. Nat Commun doi:10.1038/s41467-024-52265-x
2024 Structures of AT8 and PHF1 phosphomimetic tau: Insights into the posttranslational modification code of tau aggregation. Proc.Natl.Acad.Sci.USA doi:10.1073/pnas.2316175121
2024 Milligram-scale assembly and NMR fingerprint of tau fibrils adopting the Alzheimer's disease fold. J.Biol.Chem. doi:10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107326
2024 Alzheimer's disease seeded tau forms paired helical filaments yet lacks seeding potential. J.Biol.Chem. doi:10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107730
2024 Cryo-EM structures reveal tau filaments from Down syndrome adopt Alzheimer's disease fold. Acta Neuropathol Commun doi:10.1186/s40478-024-01806-y
2024 Cryo-EM structures of amyloid-beta and tau filaments in Down syndrome. Nat.Struct.Mol.Biol. doi:10.1038/s41594-024-01252-3
2024 Cryo-EM structures of cotton wool plaques' amyloid beta and of tau filaments in dominantly inherited Alzheimer disease. Acta Neuropathol doi:10.1007/s00401-024-02786-y
2024 Post-Translational Modifications Control Phase Transitions of Tau. Biorxiv doi:10.1101/2024.03.08.583040
2024 Cryo-EM structures reveal variant Tau amyloid fibrils between the rTg4510 mouse model and sporadic human tauopathies. Cell Discov doi:10.1038/s41421-023-00637-w
2023 Tau filaments from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/parkinsonism-dementia complex adopt the CTE fold. Proc.Natl.Acad.Sci.USA doi:10.1073/pnas.2306767120
2023 Identical tau filaments in subacute sclerosing panencephalitis and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Acta Neuropathol Commun doi:10.1186/s40478-023-01565-2
2023 Cryo-EM structures of tau filaments from SH-SY5Y cells seeded with brain extracts from cases of Alzheimer's disease and corticobasal degeneration. Febs Open Bio doi:10.1002/2211-5463.13657
2023 Cryo-EM Structures of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Tau Filaments with PET Ligand Flortaucipir. J.Mol.Biol. doi:10.1016/j.jmb.2023.168025
2023 Mutation ∆K281 in MAPT causes Pick's disease. Acta Neuropathol doi:10.1007/s00401-023-02598-6
2023 Stacked binding of a PET ligand to Alzheimer's tau paired helical filaments. Nat Commun doi:10.1038/s41467-023-38537-y
2023 Cryo-EM structures of tau filaments from the brains of mice transgenic for human mutant P301S Tau. Acta Neuropathol Commun doi:10.1186/s40478-023-01658-y
2023 Abundant A beta fibrils in ultracentrifugal supernatants of aqueous extracts from Alzheimer's disease brains. Neuron doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2023.04.007
2023 Fully co-factor-free ClearTau platform produces seeding-competent Tau fibrils for reconstructing pathological Tau aggregates. Nat Commun doi:10.1038/s41467-023-39314-7
2023 Tau filaments are tethered within brain extracellular vesicles in Alzheimer's disease. Biorxiv doi:10.1101/2023.04.30.537820
2023 Amyloid fibril structures of tau: Conformational plasticity of the second microtubule-binding repeat. Sci Adv doi:10.1126/sciadv.adh4731
2023 Structure of the nonhelical filament of the Alzheimer's disease tau core. Proc.Natl.Acad.Sci.USA doi:10.1073/pnas.2310067120
2022 Assembly of recombinant tau into filaments identical to those of Alzheimer's disease and chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Elife doi:10.7554/eLife.76494
2022 Subtle change of fibrillation condition leads to substantial alteration of recombinant Tau fibril structure. Iscience doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.105645