To explore the possibility that hse-5 generally protects against aggregating or hyperphosphorylated neurodegenerative disease proteins, we crossed hse-5(tm472) with C. elegans expressing wild-type or mutant tau protein (tau tg (WT); hse-5(tm472) or tau tg (V337M); hse-5(tm472)). This evidence concerns the gene MAPT and neurodegenerative disease.