The structure of microtubule-bound tau
Final Report Abstract
In this project, we have provided novel molecular level information about the interaction of the microtubule-associated protein tau, which plays an important role in Alzheimer’s disease and several other neurodegenerative diseases termed tauopathies, with soluble tubulin, microtubules and filamentous actin. In 2018, a model of the repeat region of tau with microtubules was proposed by the Nogales lab on the basis of cryo-electron microscopy in combination with molecular modeling. This model confirmed our results with respect to the binding of tau to the interface between tubulin heterodimers, but lacks parts of tau such as the proline-rich region, which are essential for productive binding of tau to microtubules. Thus, further high-resolution studies are required to understand the structure of tau bound to microtubules and filamentous actin, including the influence of disease-associated mutations and post-translational modifications of the tau protein and their influence on the interaction of tau with the cytoskeleton.
Publications
- Folding of the Tau Protein on Microtubules. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 54, 10347-51 (2015)
Kadavath, H., Jaremko, M., Jaremko, L., Biernat, J., Mandelkow, E. & Zweckstetter, M.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201501714) - Small Molecules Detected by Second-Harmonic Generation Modulate the Conformation of Monomeric alpha- Synuclein and Reduce Its Aggregation in Cells. J Biol Chem 290, 27582-93 (2015)
Moree, B., Yin, G., Lazaro, D.F., Munari, F., Strohaker, T., Giller, K., Becker, S., Outeiro, T.F., Zweckstetter, M. & Salafsky, J.
(See online at https://dx.doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M114.63602) - Structural Impact of Tau Phosphorylation at Threonine 231. Structure 23, 1448-58 (2015)
Schwalbe, M., Kadavath, H., Biernat, J., Ozenne, V., Blackledge, M., Mandelkow, E. & Zweckstetter, M.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.str.2015.06.002) - Tau stabilizes microtubules by binding at the interface between tubulin heterodimers. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 112, 7501-6 (2015)
Kadavath, H., Hofele, R.V., Biernat, J., Kumar, S., Tepper, K., Urlaub, H., Mandelkow, E. & Zweckstetter, M.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1504081112) - Multivalent cross-linking of actin filaments and microtubules through the microtubule-associated protein Tau. Nat Commun 8, 1981 (2017)
Cabrales Fontela, Y., Kadavath, H., Biernat, J., Riedel, D., Mandelkow, E. & Zweckstetter, M.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-02230-8) - The Binding Mode of a Tau Peptide with Tubulin. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 57, 3246-3250 (2018)
Kadavath, H., Cabrales Fontela, Y., Jaremko, M., Jaremko, L., Overkamp, K., Biernat, J., Mandelkow, E. & Zweckstetter, M.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201712089)
