Glu-MTs are selectively eliminated from the cell periphery in astrocytes accumulating tau. Double- and triple-immunofluorescence staining with specific antibodies to post-translationally modified tubulin subunits was performed in astrocytes 8 hr after T40-AV infection. Although the distribution of the more stable Glu- (red) and Ac- (green) MTs appeared almost identical, the overlay picture showed that these two forms of modified tubulin did not completely colocalize with each other even in non-infected cells, but some segments of MTs were either Glu-MT-rich or Ac-MT-rich (A and inset). Eight hours after infection, Glu-MTs, but not Ac-MTs (B) or Tyr-MTs (C), disappeared selectively from the periphery of the astrocytes. Triple staining for Glu- (red) and Tyr- (green) MTs together with tau (blue) confirmed colocalization of tau with Tyr-MTs (C). Scale bars, 10 μm.