Cellular component

Intracellular mass of paired, helically wound protein filaments (also called PHF) lying in the cytoplasm of neuronal cell bodies and neuritic cell processes. Neurofibrillary tangles contain an abnormally phosphorylated form of a microtubule-associated protein, tau. The shape of these inclusions may resemble a flame or a star.

Neurofibrillary tangles have been found in aging population; their formation is increased in Alzheimer's disease patients (and in other neurological diseases) compared to normal controls (see PMID:848276 and PMID:8584267).