Axotrophin/MARCH7 acts as an E3 ubiquitin ligase and ubiquitinates tau protein in vitro impairing microtubule binding.

ABSTRACT: Tau is the major microtubule-associated protein in neurons involved in microtubule stabilization in the axonal compartment. Changes in tau gene expression, alternative splicing and posttranslational modification regulate tau function and in tauopathies can result in tau mislocalization and dysfunction, causing tau aggregation and cell death. To uncover proteins involved in the development of tauopathies, a yeast two-hybrid system was used to screen for tau-interacting proteins. We show that axotrophin/MARCH7, a RING-variant domain containing protein with similarity to E3 ubiquitin ligases interacts with tau. We defined the tau binding domain to amino acids 552-682 of axotrophin comprising the RING-variant domain. Co-immunoprecipitation and co-localization confirmed the specificity of the i

SUBMITTER: Flach K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4311138 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature