6 March 2005. Followers of the Tao eastern philosophy advocate
complete simplicity and naturalness; followers of the tau
protein appreciate the latter, but can only wish for the former.
At Molecular Mechanisms of Neurodegeneration, a focused meeting
held in this western capital, there was a sense that tau might
soon give up its secrets and enlighten us all. For though the
protein is often enigmatic—is it good for microtubules or bad
for microtubules?—we are closer than ever to attaining a
fundamental understanding of tau, thanks in no small part to
work from Eva-Maria Mandelkow's and Eckhard Mandelkow’s labs at
the Max Planck Institute, Hamburg, Germany. Of course, tau, a
microtubule binding protein, is best known as the major
component in the neurofibrillary tangles found in Alzheimer
disease and other dementias. At the Dublin meeting, the
Mandelkows (tau practitioners for many years) reviewed some
recent revelations about the protein and strategies to prevent
tangles. It was apparent from Eva Maria’s presen