Cited by 215Alzheimer's disease research and treatmentsDementia and Cognitive Impairment ResearchNeuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms

Early N-Terminal Changes and Caspase-6 Cleavage of Tau in Alzheimer's Disease

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Horowitz, Peleg M., Patterson, Kristina R., Guillozet-Bongaarts, Angela L., Reynolds, Matthew R., Carroll, Christopher A., Weintraub, Susan T., Bennett, David A., Cryns, Vincent L. +2 more·2004·The Journal of Neuroscience

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive amnestic dementia that involves post-translational hyperphosphorylation, enzymatic cleavage, and conformational alterations of the microtubule-associated protein tau. The truncation state of tau influences many of its pathologic characteristics, including its ability to assume AD-related conformations and to assemble into filaments. Cleavage also appears to be an important marker in AD progression. Although C-terminal truncation of tau at D421 has recently been attributed to the apoptotic enzyme caspase-3, N-terminal processing of the protein remains mostly uncharacterized. Here, we report immunohistochemical staining in a cohort of 35 cases ranging from noncognitively impaired to early AD with a panel of three N-terminal anti-tau antibodies: Tau-12, 5A6, and 9G3-pY18. Of these three, the phosphorylation-independent epitope of 5A6 was the earliest to emerge in the pathological lesions of tau, followed by the appearance of the Tau-12 epitope. The unmasking of the Tau-12 epitope in more mature 5A6-positive tangles was not correlated with tau phosphorylation at tyrosine 18 (9G3-pY18). Still, later in the course of tangle evolution, the extreme N terminus of tau was lost, correlating temporally with the appearance of a C-terminal caspase-truncated epitope lacking residues 422-441. In addition, caspase-6 cleaved the N terminus of tau in vitro, preventing immunoreactivity with both Tau-12 and 5A6. Mass spectrometry confirmed that the in vitro caspase-6 truncation site is D13, a semicanonical and hitherto undescribed caspase cleavage site in tau. Collectively, these results suggest a role for caspase-6 and N-terminal truncation of tau during neurofibrillary tangle evolution and the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

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Authors
Horowitz, P. M., Patterson, K. R., Guillozet-Bongaarts, A. L., Reynolds, M. R., Carroll, C. A., Weintraub, S. T., Bennett, D. A., Cryns, V. L., Berry, R. W., & Binder, L. I.
Affiliations
  • Northwestern University (US)
  • The University of Texas at San Antonio Health Science Center (US)
  • Rush University (US)
Venue
The Journal of Neuroscience
Published
2004-09-08
Volume
24
Issue
36
Pages
7895-7902
ISSN
  • 0270-6474 (ISSN-L)
  • 1529-2401
OpenAlex
W2137176838
Cited by
215
References
52
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 11
FWCI
5.15
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (5t32ag020418-08, AG09466, AG13854, AG10161, AG15819)
  • National Institute on Aging (AG21661, AG20418, AG-15819, AG13854, AG 10161, R01AG021661, AG20506, AG09466, R01AG015819, P30AG010161, P01AG009466, P30AG013854, T32-AG020418, RF1AG015819, T32AG020506)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
Keywords
Alzheimer's disease, tau protein, caspase-6, N-terminal truncation, neurofibrillary tangles, tau phosphorylation, apoptosis, disease progression
MeSH terms
Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Alzheimer Disease, Antibodies, Monoclonal, Antibody Specificity, Epitopes, Female, Humans, Male, Microscopy, Fluorescence, Nerve Tissue Proteins, Neurons, Protein Processing, Post-Translational, Proto-Oncogene Proteins, Recombinant Proteins, Temporal Lobe, Cohort Studies, Single-Blind Method, Neurofibrillary Tangles, tau Proteins, Apoptosis, Disease Progression, src-Family Kinases, Amino Acid Substitution, Caspases, Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fyn, Caspase 6

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