title: Novel function of Tau in regulating the effects of external stimuli on adult hippocampal neurogenesis.
abstract: Tau is a microtubule-associated neuronal protein found mainly in axons. However, its presence in dendrites and dendritic spines is particularly relevant due to its involvement in synaptic plasticity and neurodegeneration. Here, we show that Tau plays a novel in vivo role in the morphological and synaptic maturation of newborn hippocampal granule neurons under basal conditions. Furthermore, we reveal that Tau is involved in the selective cell death of immature granule neurons caused by acute stress. Also, Tau deficiency protects newborn neurons from the stress-induced dendritic atrophy and loss of postsynaptic densities (PSDs). Strikingly, we also demonstrate that Tau regulates the increase in newborn neuron survival triggered by environmental enrichment (EE). Moreover, newborn granule neurons from Tau(-/-) mice did not show any stimulatory effect of EE on dendritic development or on PSD generation. Thus, our data demonstrate that Tau(-/-) mice show impairments in the maturation of newborn granule neurons under basal conditions and that they are insensitive to the modulation of adult hippocampal neurogenesis exerted by both stimulatory and detrimental stimuli.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CSIC-UAM), Madrid, Spain Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red sobre Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED, ISCIII), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Noemí
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pallas-Bazarra
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CSIC-UAM), Madrid, Spain Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red sobre Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED, ISCIII), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Jerónimo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jurado-Arjona
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CSIC-UAM), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Navarrete
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CSIC-UAM), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Jose A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Esteban
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CSIC-UAM), Madrid, Spain Sciences Faculty, Autonoma University, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Félix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hernández
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CSIC-UAM), Madrid, Spain Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red sobre Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED, ISCIII), Madrid, Spain m.llorens@csic.es javila@cbm.csic.es.
authors.forename: Jesús
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6288-0571
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ávila
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (CSIC-UAM), Madrid, Spain Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red sobre Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED, ISCIII), Madrid, Spain m.llorens@csic.es javila@cbm.csic.es.
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Llorens-Martín
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D055495:Neurogenesis; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: C558298:Mapt protein, mouse; D016875:tau Proteins
keywords: Tau; adult hippocampal neurogenesis; environmental enrichment; retrovirus; stress