ATP regulates tau-microtubule interaction

Date

Nov 27, 2025

Time

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Speaker

Zdeněk Lánský

Affiliation

BIOCEV Prague, Czechia

Series

MPI-CBG Thursday Seminar

Language

en

Main Topic

Biologie

Host

Pavel Tomancak

Description

Neuronal microtubule-associated protein tau can protect the microtubule surface, maintaining microtubule stability. In neurodegenerative diseases termed tauopathies, tau forms cyto-toxic aggregates presumably as a consequence of tau delocalization from microtubules, accompanied by an increase in cytoplasm-localized tau and microtubule destabilization. The underlying mechanisms, however, remain unclear. Here, we show that decline of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), related to aging and neurodegeneration, leads to tau delocalization from microtubules and microtubule disintegration. Combining reconstitution experiments with molecular modeling, we show that ATP stabilizes tau molecules on the microtubule surface through electrostatic interactions. We propose that pathological decline of ATP can destabilize microtubule-tau interactions and lead to an increase of cytoplasmic tau, providing a plausible functional link between ATP homeostasis and tauopathies.

Last modified: Oct 26, 2025, 7:38:29 AM