Systemic and network functions of the microtubule-associated protein tau: Implications for tau-based therapies.

Tau is a microtubule-associated neuronal protein, whose primary role was long thought to regulate axonal microtubule assembly. Tau is subject to many posttranslational modifications and can aggregate into neurofibrillary tangles, which are considered to be a hallmark of several neurodegenerative diseases collectively called "tauopathies". The most common tauopathy is Alzheimer's disease, where tau pathology correlates with sites of neurodegeneration.

Sema-3A indirectly disrupts the regeneration process of goldfish optic nerve after controlled injury.

Background: Neurons of adult mammalian CNS are prevented from regenerating injured axons due to formation of a non-permissive environment. The retinal ganglion cells (RGC), which are part of the CNS, share this characteristic. In sharp contrast, the RGC of lower vertebrates, such as fish, are capable of re-growing injured optic nerve axons, and achieve, through a complex multi-factorial process, functional vision after injury.

Negative impact of statins on oligodendrocytes and myelin formation in vitro and in vivo.

Statins are widely prescribed drugs in cardiovascular diseases. Recent studies also demonstrated anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties of statins by modulating the activity of small GTPases. Statins are thus considered as potential therapeutic drug for the inflammatory demyelinating disease multiple sclerosis (MS).

Features and functions of oligodendrocytes and myelin proteins of lower vertebrate species.

The myelin-forming cells in the central nervous system (CNS) of lower vertebrate species, in particular those of fish, profoundly differ from their mammalian counterparts in their biochemical phenotype in that they express Po-like glycoproteins as major myelin protein constituents instead of proteolipid protein, while in their overall cellular structure and their cell lineage relationships, they closely resemble mammalian oligodendrocytes. While molecular biology in the past has allowed to appropriately classify the major myelin proteins synthesized by fish oligodendrocytes, heterologous expression studies are expected to give a deeper insight into the particular features and the conserved functions of these proteins required for myelin formation and maintenance in fish. It is hoped that this approach will also help to improve our understanding of the molecular processes underlying the unique capacity of fish oligodendrocytes for remyelination after injury in the CNS.

Molecular cloning and partial functional characterization of Tsha3--a novel modulatory potassium channel alpha-subunit of trout CNS.

A novel Shaker-related potassium channel subunit termed Tsha3 that is widely expressed in the CNS of trout was PCR-cloned and sequenced: its deduced amino acid sequence showed an extended N-terminal domain with a high proportion of negatively charged residues and possessed highest similarity with KCNA10, a human epithelial potassium channel. Upon heterologous expression in Sf21 cells, homomeric Tsha3 did not yield voltage-activated potassium channels but produced only ohmic currents that reversed at -15 mV. After co-expression with Tsha1, a novel outward rectifier current was generated that differed from homomeric Tsha1 by its slower kinetics of activation, its partial current inactivation, and its partial blockade by 5 mM TEA as well as 1 microM DTX.