To demonstrate that aluminum III (Al) interacts with PHFtau in neurofibrillary degeneration (NFD) of Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain, we developed a "chelating autoclave method" that allows Al chelation by using trivalent-cationic chelator desferrioxamine. Its application to AD brain sections before Morin histochemistry for Al attenuated the positive fluorescence of neurofibrillary tangles, indicating Al removal from them. This method, applied for immunostaining with phosphorylation-dependent anti-tau antibodies, significantly enhanced the PHFtau immunoreactivity of the NFD. These results suggest that each of the phosphorylated epitopes in PHFtau are partially masked by Al binding. Incubation of AD sections with AlCl(3) before Morin staining revealed Al accumulation with association to neurofibrillary tangles. Such incubation before immunostaining with the phosphorylation-dependent anti-tau antibodies abolished the immunolabeling of the NFD and this abolition was reversed by the Al chelation. These findings indicate cumulative Al binding to and thereby antigenic masking of the phosphorylated epitopes of PHFtau. Al binding was further documented for electrophoretically-resolved PHFtau on immunoblots, indicating direct Al binding to PHFtau. In vitro aggregation by AlCl(3) was observed for PHFtau but was lost on dephosphorylation of PHFtau. Taken together, phosphorylation-dependent and direct PHFtau-Al interaction occurs in the NFD of the AD brain.