Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
47768 Characterization of tau proteins during the development of human cortical neurons in culture Presenter: Khin M. Win Mentor: Dr. Jorge Busciglio Neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) made up of hyperphosphorylated tau are intraneuronal lesions present in several neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Although rodent species have been used extensively to study NFT-related features, there are significant differences among tau isoforms between humans and rodents. The aim of this research is to characterize the expression of tau isoforms in cultured human cortical neurons grown on two different substrates: poly-L-lysine (PLL), a synthetic molecule, and laminin (an extracellular matrix protein known to stimulate neuritic outgrowth and neuronal maturation). The final goal is to establish an experimental model for future studies of molecular mechanisms involving tau proteins in neurodegenerative diseases. Since tau, an axonal protein, plays a role in early neuronal development, we monitored neurite outgrowth during the initial period of 4-5 days. We performed immunostaining for measurement of neuritic lengths, and western blotting for characterization of tau proteins and progressive expression of various tau isoforms. Our results indicate that laminin stimulates longer neuritic processes than PLL, and that 3- and 4- repeat isoforms of human tau are expressed in both PLL and laminin substrates. The similarities observed between human cortical neurons in culture and mature neurons in the human brain suggest that this culture system will be a useful experimental paradigm for molecular studies of tau pathology and development of NFT.