A number of neurodegenerative disorders are associated with aggregation of tau protein in the brain and are described as tauopathies. This report includes general information about tauopathies; reports on specific diseases that have been investigated in flies may be accessed via the links in the 'Related diseases' section, below.
[updated Jan. 2016 by FlyBase; FBrf0222196]
Tauopathies are a group of diseases which includes Alzheimer disease (MIM:104300), frontotemporal dementia (MIM:600274), progressive supranuclear palsy (MIM:601104), and Pick disease (MIM:172700) (from http://www.mayo.edu/research/labs/neurodegenerative-diseases/targeting-tau-treatment-tauopathies).
The accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau causes the formation of neurofibrillary tangles, a pathological characteristic of tauopathies. [from http://www.mayo.edu/research/labs/neurodegenerative-diseases/targeting-tau-treatment-tauopathies]
In the case of Alzheimer disease (AD), two types of pathogenic protein accumulations are observed: extracellular deposition of amyloid beta protein and intracellular accumulation of tau protein; both these compounds are insoluble. Amyloid-beta is the main component of senile plaques and tau is the component of neurofibrillary tangles. Amyloid-beta deposition is specific for AD and is thought to be primary; tau accumulation is thought to be secondary. [from http://neuropathology-web.org/chapter9/chapter9bAD.html]
