Tau demonstrates essential characteristics of a prion.

A new paper published in Neuron late last week from the Diamond lab describes tau as possessing many of the characteristics of a prion.  Additionally, they report that tau exists as a multitude of strains, perhaps thus underlying "the phenotypic diversity of tauopathies" observed in many neurological diseases.  Individuals interested in neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease might want to discuss this paper for journal club. Click here for the link to the paper.