title: Sites of phosphorylation in tau and factors affecting their regulation.
abstract: The microtubule-associated protein, tau, is the principal component of paired helical filaments (PHFs) in Alzheimer's disease. PHF-tau is highly phosphorylated and a total of 25 sites of phosphorylation have so far been identified. Many of these sites are serine or threonine residues that are immediately followed in the sequence by proline residues, and hence are candidate phosphorylation sites for proline-directed kinases. In vitro, glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3), extracellular signal-related kinase-1 and -2, and mitogen-activated protein kinases, p38 kinase and c-jun N-terminal kinase, all phosphorylate many of these sites, although with different efficiencies for particular sites. Phosphorylation studies in transfected cells and neurons show that GSK-3 phosphorylates tau more extensively than do these other proline-directed kinases. Mutations in tau have been shown to affect in vitro phosphorylation of tau by GSK-3. The Arg406-->Trp (R406W) tau mutation also affects tau phosphorylation in cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, U.K.
authors.forename: B H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Anderton
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Betts
authors.forename: W P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Blackstock
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Brion
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Connell
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dayanandan
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gallo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gibb
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Hanger
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hutton
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kardalinou
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Leroy
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lovestone
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mack
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Reynolds
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Van Slegtenhorst
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D019556:COS Cells; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D002460:Cell Line; D038362:Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3; D038341:Glycogen Synthase Kinases; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D048057:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 10; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014162:Transfection; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D016875:tau Proteins; D048057:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 10; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D038341:Glycogen Synthase Kinases; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D038362:Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3