| Abstract | One of the major immunodominant epitopes of the paired helical filaments (PHF) of Alzheimer's disease is the peptide sequence GAEIVYKSPWSGD (T3), comprising amino acids 389–402 of the microtubule-associated protein, τ, when it is phosphorylated at the first serine residue. While the corresponding anti-PHF monoclonal antibody recognizes the peptide phosphorylated at either serine, it does not recognize the tyrosine-phosphorylated peptide. Here we describe the effect of serine- versus tyrosine-phosphorylation on the conformation of a synthetic tau peptide. While adding a phosphate to the serine residue has practically no impact on the structure of the non-phosphorylated peptide, phosphorylation of the tyrosine results in considerable conformational changes. |
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