In sporadic Alzheimer's
disease, neurofibrillary
lesion formation is preceded by extensive post-translational modification of the
microtubule associated
protein tau. Immunoassays have been developed recently that detect tau in biological specimens, thus providing a means for pre-mortem diagnosis of Alzheimer's
disease, which has remained elusive. These assays have been improved by the analysis of relevant post-translational modifications, such as
phosphorylation, however opportunity for improvement remains. The present invention addresses this issue by disclosing synthetic methylated peptides derived from the
tau protein of paired
helical filaments and non-diseased control brain. Alzheimer's
disease specificity is provided by the presence or absence of methyl moieties on
lysine residues and differences between mono-, di-, and tri-
methylation. The methylated
peptide is useful as an
antigen and a binding partner for identifying compounds that interact with the
peptide and the methylated
tau protein, including antibodies that can distinguish non-diseased brain from that affected by Alzheimer's disease. The resulting antibodies are useful diagnostically and therapeutically. The compounds that specifically bind to methylated tau proteins are useful for eliminating abnormally methylated tau.