Premium
τ Is Widely Expressed in Rat Tissues
Author(s) -
Gu Yongjun,
Oyama Fumitaka,
Ihara Yasuo
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
journal of neurochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.75
H-Index - 229
eISSN - 1471-4159
pISSN - 0022-3042
DOI - 10.1046/j.1471-4159.1996.67031235.x
Subject(s) - gene isoform , biology , phosphorylation , messenger rna , kidney , dephosphorylation , reverse transcriptase , microbiology and biotechnology , phosphatase , biochemistry , endocrinology , rna , gene
The microtubule‐associated protein τ, a major component of paired helical filaments in Alzheimer's disease, had been thought to be a neuron‐specific protein. We investigated various rat tissues using both reverse transcriptase‐coupled polymerase chain reaction and immunoblotting. τ was found to be widely expressed in many tissues besides the nervous system: at relatively high levels in the heart, skeletal muscle, lung, kidney, and testis and at low levels in the adrenal gland, stomach, and liver. In terms of the τ isoform expression, tissues fall into three classes: those expressing predominantly small τ, those expressing predominantly big τ, and those expressing both at comparable levels. The phosphorylation state of τ varied among the tissues, as shown by differences in the extents of changes in the reactivities with Tau 1 and electrophoretic mobilities after dephosphorylation. It is notable that τ in many nonneural tissues was highly phosphorylated at Ser 396 (according to the numbering of the 441‐residue human τ isoform). Thus, τ is widely expressed in rat tissues.