Human neuronal tau promoting the melting temperature of DNA

Genomic stress and impaired DNA repair in Alzheimer disease

Alzheimer disease (AD) is the most prominent form of dementia and has received considerable attention due to its growing burden on economic, healthcare and basic societal infrastructures. The two major neuropathological hallmarks of AD, i.e., extracellular amyloid beta (Aβ) peptide plaques and intracellular hyperphosphorylated Tau neurofibrillary tangles, have been the focus of much research, with an eye on understanding underlying disease mechanisms and identifying novel therapeutic avenues. One often overlooked aspect of AD is how Aβ and Tau may, through indirect and direct mechanisms, affect genome integrity. Herein, we review evidence that Aβ and Tau abnormalities induce excessive genomic stress and impair genome maintenance mechanisms, events that can promote DNA damage-induced neuronal cell loss and associated brain atrophy.

Phospho-Tau and Chromatin Landscapes in Early and Late Alzheimer's Disease

Cellular identity is determined through complex patterns of gene expression. Chromatin, the dynamic structure containing genetic information, is regulated through epigenetic modulators, mainly by the histone code. One of the main challenges for the cell is maintaining functionality and identity, despite the accumulation of DNA damage throughout the aging process. Replicative cells can remain in a senescent state or develop a malign cancer phenotype. In contrast, post-mitotic cells such as pyramidal neurons maintain extraordinary functionality despite advanced age, but they lose their identity. This review focuses on tau, a protein that protects DNA, organizes chromatin, and plays a crucial role in genomic stability. In contrast, tau cytosolic aggregates are considered hallmarks of Alzheimer´s disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative disorders called tauopathies. Here, we explain AD as a phenomenon of chromatin dysregulation directly involving the epigenetic histone code and a progressive destabilization of the tau–chromatin interaction, leading to the consequent dysregulation of gene expression. Although this destabilization could be lethal for post-mitotic neurons, tau protein mediates profound cellular transformations that allow for their temporal survival.

Tau and DNA Damage in Neurodegeneration

Neurodegenerative disorders are a family of incurable conditions. Among them, Alzheimer's disease and tauopathies are the most common. Pathological features of these two disorders are synaptic loss, neuronal cell death and increased DNA damage. A key pathological protein for the onset and progression of the conditions is the protein tau, a microtubule-binding protein highly expressed in neurons and encoded by the MAPT (microtubule-associated protein tau) gene. Tau is predominantly a cytosolic protein that interacts with numerous other proteins and molecules. Recent findings, however, have highlighted new and unexpected roles for tau in the nucleus of neuronal cells. This review summarizes the functions of tau in the metabolism of DNA, describing them in the context of the disorders.

Phosphorylation of nuclear Tau is modulated by distinct cellular pathways

Post-translational protein modification controls the function of Tau as a scaffold protein linking a variety of molecular partners. This is most studied in the context of microtubules, where Tau regulates their stability as well as the distribution of cellular components to defined compartments. However, Tau is also located in the cell nucleus; and is found to protect DNA. Quantitative assessment of Tau modification in the nucleus when compared to the cytosol may elucidate how subcellular distribution and function of Tau is regulated. We undertook an unbiased approach by combing bimolecular fluorescent complementation and mass spectrometry in order to show that Tau phosphorylation at specific residues is increased in the nucleus of proliferating pluripotent neuronal C17.2 and neuroblastoma SY5Y cells. These findings were validated with the use of nuclear targeted Tau and subcellular fractionation, in particular for the phosphorylation at T₁₈₁, T₂₁₂ and S₄₀₄. We also report that the DNA damaging drug Etoposide increases the translocation of Tau to the nucleus whilst reducing its phosphorylation. We propose that overt phosphorylation of Tau, a hallmark of neurodegenerative disorders defined as tauopathies, may negatively regulate the function of nuclear Tau in protecting against DNA damage.

Nuclear Tau and Its Potential Role in Alzheimer's Disease

Tau protein, found in both neuronal and non-neuronal cells, forms aggregates in neurons that constitutes one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). For nearly four decades, research efforts have focused more on tau’s role in physiology and pathology in the context of the microtubules, even though, for over three decades, tau has been localised in the nucleus and the nucleolus. Its nuclear and nucleolar localisation had stimulated many questions regarding its role in these compartments. Data from cell culture, mouse brain, and the human brain suggests that nuclear tau could be essential for genome defense against cellular distress. However, its nature of translocation to the nucleus, its nuclear conformation and interaction with the DNA and other nuclear proteins highly suggest it could play multiple roles in the nucleus. To find efficient tau-based therapies, there is a need to understand more about the functional relevance of the varied cellular distribution of tau, identify whether specific tau transcripts or isoforms could predict tau’s localisation and function and how they are altered in diseases like AD. Here, we explore the cellular distribution of tau, its nuclear localisation and function and its possible involvement in neurodegeneration.

Effect of DNA on Filament Formation of Tau Microtubule-Binding Domain: Structural Dependence of DNA

To examine whether or not DNA accelerates the paired helical filament (PHF) formation of tau, the effect of various types of DNAs on filament formations of three-repeated and four-repeated microtubule-binding domains (3RMBD and 4RMBD, respectively) of tau protein was investigated by monitoring the change of thioflavin S fluorescence intensity, that is parallel to the filament formation. Consequently, the followings were clarified: 1) the structurally rigid double-stranded DNA such as poly(dG-dC) or calf thymus DNA has the high potency of promoting the filament formations of 3RMBD and 4RMBD, 2) the filament formation of 3RMBD was more promoted than that of 4RMBD, due to the intermolecular dimer formation of 3RMBD, 3) the DNA-promoted filament formations of these MBDs were temperature-dependent, and the single-stranded DNA such as poly(dA) or poly(dT) reversely protected 4RMBD from the molecular assembly at 20 degrees C. These are the first report on the function of DNA for the PHF formation of tau protein.

Tau protein binds single-stranded DNA sequence specifically - the proof obtained in vitro with non-equilibrium capillary electrophoresis of equilibrium mixtures

Tau is a microtubule-associated protein, which plays an important role in physiology and pathology of neurons. Tau has been recently reported to bind double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) but not to bind single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) [Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 2003, 60, 413-421]. Here, we prove that tau binds not only dsDNA but also ssDNA. This finding was facilitated by using two kinetic capillary electrophoresis methods: (i) non-equilibrium capillary electrophoresis of equilibrium mixtures (NECEEM); (ii) affinity-mediated NECEEM. Using the new approach, we observed, for the first time, that tau could induce dissociation of strands in dsDNA by binding one of them in a sequence-specific fashion. Moreover, we determined the equilibrium dissociation constants for all tau-DNA complexes studied.

Tau could protect DNA double helix structure

The hyperchromic effect has been used to detect the effect of tau on the transition of double-stranded DNA to single-stranded DNA. It was shown that tau increased the melting temperature of calf thymus DNA from 67 to 81 degrees C and that of plasmid from 75 to 85 degrees C. Kinetically, rates of increase in absorbance at 260 nm of DNA incubated with tau were markedly slower than those of DNA and DNA/bovine serum albumin used as controls during thermal denaturation. In contrast, rates of decrease in the DNA absorbance with tau were faster than those of controls when samples were immediately transferred from thermal conditions to room temperature. It revealed that tau prevented DNA from thermal denaturation, and improved renaturation of DNA. Circular dichroic spectra results indicated that there were little detectable conformational changes in DNA double helix when tau was added. Furthermore, tau showed its ability to protect DNA from hydroxyl radical (.OH) attacking in vitro, implying that tau functions as a DNA-protecting molecule to the radical.