Inhibition of neurite polarity by tau antisense oligonucleotides in primary cerebellar neurons
- 1 February 1990
- journal article
- Published by Springer Nature in Nature
- Vol. 343 (6257) , 461-463
- https://doi.org/10.1038/343461a0
Abstract
Neurons in culture can have fundamentally distinct morphologies which permit their cytological identification and the recognition of their neurites as axons or dendrites. Microtubules may have a role in determining morphology by the selective stabilization of spatially distinct microtubule subsets. The plasticity of a neurite correlates inversely with the stability of its component microtubules: microtubules in growth cones are very dynamic, and in initial neurites there is continuous incorporation of labelled subunits, whereas in mature neurites, microtubules are highly stabilized. The binding of microtubule-associated proteins to the microtubules very probably contributes to this stability. Cerebellar neurons in dissociated culture initially extend exploratory neurites and, after a relatively constant interval, become polarized. Polarity becomes evident when a single neurite exceeds the others in length. These stable neurites cease to undergo the retractions and extensions characteristic of initial neurites and assume many features of axons and dendrites. We have now studied the role of the neuronal microtubule-associate protein tau in neurite polarization by selectively inhibiting tau expression by the addition of antisense oligonucleotides to the culture media. Although the extension of initial exploratory neurites occurred normally, neurite asymmetry was inhibited by the failure to elaborate an axon.Keywords
This publication has 13 references indexed in Scilit:
- Microtubule formation and neurite growth in cerebellar macroneurons which develop in vitro: evidence for the involvement of the microtubule-associated proteins, MAP-1a, HMW-MAP2 and TauDevelopmental Brain Research, 1989
- Experimental observations on the development of polarity by hippocampal neurons in culture.The Journal of cell biology, 1989
- Epitopes that span the tau molecule are shared with paired helical filamentsNeuron, 1988
- Cytoskeletal dynamics and nerve growthNeuron, 1988
- Microtubule dynamics in nerve cells: analysis using microinjection of biotinylated tubulin into PC12 cells.The Journal of cell biology, 1988
- Axonal disruption and aberrant localization of tau protein characterize the neuropil pathology of Alzheimer's diseaseAnnals of Neurology, 1987
- MAP2 and tau segregate into dendritic and axonal domains after the elaboration of morphologically distinct neurites: an immunocytochemical study of cultured rat cerebrumJournal of Neuroscience, 1987
- An immunocytochemical analysis of the ontogeny of the microtubule-associated proteins MAP-2 and Tau in the nervous system of the ratDevelopmental Brain Research, 1987
- Tau protein function in living cells.The Journal of cell biology, 1986
- Visualization of the dynamic instability of individual microtubules by dark-field microscopyNature, 1986