Kenner L, el-Shabrawi Y, Hutter H, Forstner M, Zatloukal K, Hoefler G, Preisegger K H, Kurzbauer R, Denk H
Institute of Pathology, University of Graz School of Medicine, Austria.
Hepatology. 1994 Oct;20(4 Pt 1):1086-9. doi: 10.1002/hep.1840200442.
Tau protein is a member of the family of microtubule-associated proteins, which support microtubule polymerization and stability. Under pathological conditions, tau is a major constituent of neurofibrillary tangles in nerve cells of patients with Alzheimer's disease. Neurofibrillary tangles share some morphological, biochemical and immunological properties with cytoplasmic inclusions associated with other diseases, such as Mallory bodies in the livers of patients with alcoholic hepatitis and in corresponding mouse models. Recently a Mallory body component was identified that in molecular mass and isoelectric point resembles the abnormally phosphorylated tau of neurofibrillary tangles. There has been, however, so far no report describing the occurrence of tau in normal liver. We now demonstrate the expression of two tau isoforms containing three and four repeats, respectively, of the microtubule-binding domains in normal mouse liver and kidney. This finding provides evidence for a physiological role of tau in the liver and, consequently, the basis for the involvement of tau in pathological situations.
tau蛋白是微管相关蛋白家族的成员，其支持微管聚合和稳定性。在病理条件下，tau是阿尔茨海默病患者神经细胞中神经原纤维缠结的主要成分。神经原纤维缠结与其他疾病相关的细胞质内含物具有一些形态、生化和免疫学特性，如酒精性肝炎患者肝脏及相应小鼠模型中的马洛里小体。最近鉴定出一种马洛里小体成分，其分子量和等电点与神经原纤维缠结中异常磷酸化的tau相似。然而，迄今为止尚无关于tau在正常肝脏中存在的报道。我们现在证明在正常小鼠肝脏和肾脏中分别表达含有微管结合结构域三个和四个重复序列的两种tau异构体。这一发现为tau在肝脏中的生理作用提供了证据，从而也为tau参与病理情况奠定了基础。
