Although it remains unclear how the prion protein is connected to tau pathology, work from last year suggests that the pathological tau species associated with the p.Q160X and p.F198S variants of PRNP bears striking resemblance to that found in AD (i.e., NFTs composed of paired helical filaments), lending support for the notion that extracellular amyloid aggregates—whether composed of Aβ or prion protein—may represent a general trigger for the formation of tau NFTs [199] and downstream neurodegeneration (Fig. 3). This evidence concerns the gene MAPT and Alzheimer disease.