Tau: It's Not What You Think.

Tau: It's Not What You Think. Trends Cell Biol. 2019 Mar 28;: Authors: Baas PW, Qiang L Abstract Tau is a multifunctional microtubule-associated protein in the neuron. For decades, tau's main function in neurons has been broadly accepted as stabilizing microtubules in the axon; however, this conclusion was reached mainly on the basis of studies performed in vitro and on ectopic expression of tau in non-neuronal cells. The idea has become so prevailing that some disease researchers are even seeking to use microtubule-stabilizing drugs to treat diseases in which tau dissociates from microtubules. Recent work suggests that tau is not a stabilizer of microtubules in the axon, but rather enables axonal microtubules to have long labile domains, in part by outcompeting genuine stabilizers. This new perspective on tau challenges long-standing dogma. PMID: 30929793 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Trends in Cell Biology - Category: Cytology Authors: Tags: Trends Cell Biol Source Type: research