Alterations in human tau transcripts correlate with those of neurofilament in sporadic tauopathies.
Abnormalities in tau mRNA splicing cause frontotemporal dementia and parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17, and similar alterations are suggested in sporadic tauopathies such as progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) or corticobasal degeneration (CBD). We have analyzed the expression of three-repeat (3R) and four-repeat (4R) tau isoforms in brains with familial and sporadic tauopathies. By RT-PCR analysis, decreased levels of 3R tau mRNA were detected not only in severely affected cases with progressive supranuclear palsy or corticobasal degeneration but also in cases with Alzheimer's disease or Pick's disease. Levels of 3R tau transcripts were closely correlated with levels of neurofilament transcripts. By contrast, expressions of glial fibrillary acidic protein and myelin basic protein were similar in all brains. These results suggest that decrease of 3R tau mRNA associated with loss of neuronal element may largely contribute to the increased ratio of 4R/3R tau mRNA in sporadic tauopathies.
Umeda
Yuri
Y
Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Tokyo Institute of Psychiatry, Tokyo Metropolitan Organization for Medical Research, 2-1-8 Kamikitazawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 156-8585, Japan.
Taniguchi
Sayuri
S
Arima
Kunimasa
K
Piao
Yue-Shan
YS
Takahashi
Hitoshi
H
Iwatsubo
Takeshi
T
Mann
David
D
Hasegawa
Masato
M
D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002886:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 17 / Q000235:genetics; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D005820:Genetic Testing; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012016:Reference Values; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D024801:Tauopathies / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D018911:Trinucleotide Repeats; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*
D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D014157:Transcription Factors; D016875:tau Proteins; C105389:NEUROG1 protein, human