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Kohl PA, Song C, Fletcher BJ, Best RL, Tchounwou C, Garcia Arceo X, Chung PJ, Miller HP, Wilson L, Choi MC, Li Y, Feinstein SC, Safinya CR. Complexes of tubulin oligomers and tau form a viscoelastic intervening network cross-bridging microtubules into bundles. Nat Commun 2024; 15:2362. [PMID: 38491006 PMCID: PMC10943092 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46438-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2023] [Accepted: 02/28/2024] [Indexed: 03/18/2024] Open
Abstract
The axon-initial-segment (AIS) of mature neurons contains microtubule (MT) fascicles (linear bundles) implicated as retrograde diffusion barriers in the retention of MT-associated protein (MAP) tau inside axons. Tau dysfunction and leakage outside of the axon is associated with neurodegeneration. We report on the structure of steady-state MT bundles in varying concentrations of Mg2+ or Ca2+ divalent cations in mixtures containing αβ-tubulin, full-length tau, and GTP at 37 °C in a physiological buffer. A concentration-time kinetic phase diagram generated by synchrotron SAXS reveals a wide-spacing MT bundle phase (Bws), a transient intermediate MT bundle phase (Bint), and a tubulin ring phase. SAXS with TEM of plastic-embedded samples provides evidence of a viscoelastic intervening network (IN) of complexes of tubulin oligomers and tau stabilizing MT bundles. In this model, αβ-tubulin oligomers in the IN are crosslinked by tau's MT binding repeats, which also link αβ-tubulin oligomers to αβ-tubulin within the MT lattice. The model challenges whether the cross-bridging of MTs is attributed entirely to MAPs. Tubulin-tau complexes in the IN or bound to isolated MTs are potential sites for enzymatic modification of tau, promoting nucleation and growth of tau fibrils in tauopathies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Phillip A Kohl
- Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Chaeyeon Song
- Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
- Biomolecular Science and Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
- Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
- Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
- Amorepacific R&I Center, Yongin, 17074, Republic of Korea
| | - Bretton J Fletcher
- Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
- Biomolecular Science and Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
- Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
- Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Rebecca L Best
- Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
- Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
- Serimmune Inc., 150 Castilian Dr., Goleta, CA, 93117, USA
| | - Christine Tchounwou
- Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
- Biomolecular Science and Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
- Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
- Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Ximena Garcia Arceo
- Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Peter J Chung
- Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
- Biomolecular Science and Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
- Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
- Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA
| | - Herbert P Miller
- Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Leslie Wilson
- Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
- Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Myung Chul Choi
- Department of Bio and Brain Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 291 Daehak-ro, Daejeon, 34141, Korea
| | - Youli Li
- Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA.
| | - Stuart C Feinstein
- Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
- Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA
| | - Cyrus R Safinya
- Materials Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA.
- Biomolecular Science and Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA.
- Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA.
- Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA.
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Hirokawa N, Funakoshi T, Sato-Harada R, Kanai Y. Selective stabilization of tau in axons and microtubule-associated protein 2C in cell bodies and dendrites contributes to polarized localization of cytoskeletal proteins in mature neurons. J Biophys Biochem Cytol 1996; 132:667-79. [PMID: 8647897 PMCID: PMC2199865 DOI: 10.1083/jcb.132.4.667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 120] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
In mature neurons, tau is abundant in axons, whereas microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) and MAP2C are specifically localized in dendrites. Known mechanisms involved in the compartmentalization of these cytoskeletal proteins include the differential localization of mRNA (MAP2 mRNA in dendrites, MAP2C mRNA in cell body, and Tau mRNA in proximal axon revealed by in situ hybridization) (Garner, C.C., R.P. Tucker, and A. Matus. 1988. Nature (Lond.). 336:674-677; Litman, P., J. Barg, L. Rindzooski, and I. Ginzburg. 1993. Neuron. 10:627-638), suppressed transit of MAP2 into axons (revealed by cDNA transfection into neurons) (Kanai, Y., and N. Hirokawa. 1995. Neuron. 14:421-432), and differential turnover of MAP2 in axons vs dendrites (Okabe, S., and N. Hirokawa. 1989. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 86:4127-4131). To investigate whether differential turnover of MAPs contributes to localization of other major MAPs in general, we microinjected biotinylated tau, MAP2C, or MAP2 into mature spinal cord neurons in culture (approximately 3 wk) and then analyzed their fates by antibiotin immunocytochemistry. Initially, each was detected in axons and dendrites, although tau persisted only in axons, whereas MAP2C and MAP2 were restricted to cell bodies and dendrites. Injected MAP2C and MAP2 bound to dendritic microtubules more firmly than to microtubules in axons, while injected tau bound to axonal microtubules more firmly than to microtubules in dendrites. Thus, beyond contributions from mRNA localization and selective axonal transport, compartmentalization of each of the three major MAPs occurs through local differential turnover.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Hirokawa
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Japan
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