Mutations in the tau gene (MAPT) in FTDP-17: The family with Multiple System Tauopathy with Presenile Dementia (MSTD)

Work in 1980s and early 1990s established that the microtubule-associated protein tau is the major component of the paired helical filament of Alzheimer's disease. Similar filamentous deposits are also present in a number of other diseases, including progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration and Pick's disease. In 1998, the relevance of tau dysfunction for the neurodegenerative process became clear, when mutations in the tau gene...