Zinc Differentially Modulates Tau Aggregation, Fibril Morphology, and Prion-like Seeding in a Construct-Dependent Manner

The role of tau fibril structure in seeding and propagation of aggregation remains a central unresolved question in tauopathy biology. While non-proteinaceous cofactors are increasingly observed in patient-derived tau filaments, whether they actively determine fibril structure and function is not well understood. Here, we show that zinc, a divalent cation dysregulated in Alzheimers disease (AD), can drive fundamentally different aggregation and seeding outcomes depending on tau sequence context. Using heparin-free conditions, we compared full-length 2N4R tau (residues 1-441) with an AD-tau fragment (residues 304-380) corresponding to the ordered fibril core. Strikingly, Zn2+ exerted opposite effects on these constructs: it accelerated aggregation, increased fibril length, and enhanced cellular seeding for AD-tau, while slowing aggregation, shortening fibrils, and suppressing seeding for full-length tau. These findings demonstrate that cofactor effects are not intrinsic properties of the cofactor itself, but emerge from its interplay with tau sequence and conformational constraints. More broadly, our results support a model in which small-molecule cofactors act as active architects of fibril structure and function, suggesting that chemically distinct environments could generate structurally and biologically distinct tau strains in disease.