Differences in structure and function between human and murine tau

The main difference between the primary structures of human and mouse tau can be found at the N-terminal end of the protein. Residues 17 to 28 in human tau are not present in the mouse form of the molecule. Here we tested the capacity of these human tau residues to bind to specific proteins. Several proteins were observed to bind to these residues. Among those that showed the greatest binding were three related to energetic processes: enolase, glyceraldehyde 3 phosphate dehydrogenase and creatine kinase B. The latter did not bind to tau from brain extracts taken from patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). This lack of binding could be due to the modification of CKB by oxidation in AD.