Phosphorylation regulates fibrillation of an aggregation core peptide in the second repeat of microtubule-binding domain of human tau.

Hyperphosphorylation of the microtubule-associated protein tau is believed to play a crucial role in the neurofibrillary tangles formation in Alzheimer’s disease brain. In this study, fibril formation of peptides containing the critical sequences for tau aggregation VQIINK and a plausible serine phosphorylation site of tau at its C-terminal was investigated. All the peptides formed fibrils with the typical cross-b structural core. However, stability of the fibrils was highly sensitive to the pH conditions for the phosphorylated VQIINK peptide, suggesting a regulatory role of phosphorylation for the amyloid-formation of tau.