Modulation of Tau Subcellular Localization as a Tool to Investigate the Expression of Disease-related Genes

Summary

Tau is a neuronal protein present both in the cytoplasm, where it binds microtubules, and in the nucleus, where it exerts unconventional functions including the modulation of Alzheimer's disease-related genes. Here, we describe a method to investigate the function of nuclear Tau while excluding any interferences coming from cytoplasmic Tau.

Abstract

Tau is a microtubule binding protein expressed in neurons and its main known function is related to the maintenance of cytoskeletal stability. However, recent evidence indicated that Tau is present also in other subcellular compartments including the nucleus where it is implicated in DNA protection, in rRNA transcription, in the mobility of retrotransposons and in the structural organization of the nucleolus. We have recently demonstrated that nuclear Tau is involved in the expression of the VGluT1 gene, suggesting a molecular mechanism that could explain the pathological increase of glutamate release in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. Until recently, the involvement of nuclear Tau in modulating the expression of target genes has been relatively uncertain and ambiguous due to technical limitations that prevented the exclusion of the contribution of cytoplasmic Tau or the effect of other downstream factors not related to nuclear Tau. To overcome this uncertainty, we developed a method to study the expression of target genes specifically modulated by the nuclear Tau protein. We employed a protocol that couples the use of localization signals and the subcellular fractionation, allowing the exclusion of the interference from the cytoplasmic Tau molecules. Most notably, the protocol is easy and is composed of classic and reliable methods that are broadly applicable to study the nuclear function of Tau in other cell types and cellular conditions.

Introduction

The functions of Tau protein in the nucleus have garnered significant interest in recent years, as it has been shown to be closely associated with nucleic acids^1,2,3,4,5,6. Indeed, a recent genome-wide study demonstrated that Tau binds genic and intergenic DNA sequences in vivo⁷. A role in nucleolar organization has been suggested^8,9,10,

Protocol

1. Cell Culture

1. Culture SH-SY5Y cells (human neuroblastoma cell line, CRL-2266) in complete medium (Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium:nutrient mixture F12 [DMEM/F-12] supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum [FBS], 2 mM L-glutamine, 100 U/mL penicillin and 100 µg/mL streptomycin). Maintain the cells in an incubator at 37 °C and 5% CO₂. Grow cells in 10 cm plates and split when confluent.

2. Cell Differentiation

1. To differentiate SH-SY5Y cells, the day after the plating, add 10 µM retinoic acid (RA) to complete medium for 5 days.
2. The sixth day replace medium with differenti....

Results

The strategy used to dissect the impact of nuclear Tau in gene expression avoiding the contribution of cytoplasmic Tau proteins has been depicted in Figure 1. Briefly, Tau proteins tagged with NLS or NES are accumulated in or excluded from the nuclear compartment, respectively. The functional effect of this unbalance is the alteration of the gene expression measured as the product of the VGluT1 gene.

Discussion

We describe a method to measure the impact of nuclear Tau protein on gene expression. With this protocol the contribution of cytoplasmic Tau is strongly limited. Critical steps of this protocol are the following: the differentiation of human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells, the subcellular fractionation and the localization of Tau protein in the nuclear compartment.

First, as shown in the representative results section, the differentiation of SH-SY5Y cells by adding RA and BDNF is crucial to obtai.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Alexa Fluor 633 goat anti-mouse IgG	Life Technologies	A21050	IF 1:500
anti Actin Antibody	BETHYL LABORATORIE	A300-485A	anti-rabbit WB 1:10,000
anti GAPDH Antibody	Fitzgerald Industries International	10R-G109a	anti-mouse WB 1:10,000
anti H2B Antibody	Abcam	ab1790	anti-rabbit WB 1:15,000
anti Tau-13 Antibody	Santa Cruz Biotechnology	sc-21796	anti-mouse WB 1:1,000; IF 1:500
anti Tubulin alpha Antibody	Thermo Fisher Scientific	PA5-16891	anti-mouse WB 1:5,000
anti VGluT1 Antibody	Sigma-Aldrich	AMAb91041	anti-mouse WB 1:500
BCA Protein Assay Kit	Euroclone	EMPO14500
BDNF	Alomone Labs	B-250
Blotting-Grade Blocker	Biorad	1706404	Non-fat dry milk
BOVIN SERUM ALBUMIN	Sigma-Aldrich	A4503-50g
cOmplete Mini	Roche	11836170001	protease inhibitor
Criterion TGX 4-20% Stain Free, 10 well	Biorad	5678093
DAPI	Thermo Fisher Scientific	62247
DMEM/F-12	GIBCO	21331-020
Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium Low Glucose	Euroclone	ECM0060L
EDTA	Sigma-Aldrich	0390-100ml	pH = 8, 0.5 M
Foetal Bovine Serum	Euroclone	EC50182L
Glycerol	Sigma-Aldrich	G5516-500ml
Goat anti-mouse IgG-HPR	Santa Cruz Biotechnology	sc-2005	WB 1:1,000
Goat anti-rabbit IgG-HPR	Santa Cruz Biotechnology	sc-2004	WB 1:1,000
IGEPAL CA-630	Sigma-Aldrich	I8896-50ml	Octylphenoxy poly(ethyleneoxy)ethanol
Immobilon Western	MERCK	WBKLS0500
Lab-Tech Chamber slide 8 well glass slide	nunc	177402
L-glutamine	Euroclone	ECB3000D	100X
Lipofectamine 2000 transfection reagent	Thermo Fisher Scientific	12566014	cationic lipid
Methanol	Sigma-Aldrich	322415-6X1L
MgCl2	Sigma-Aldrich	M8266-100G
NaCl	Sigma-Aldrich	S3014-1kg
Opti-MEM reduced serum medium	Gibco	31985070
PEI	Sigma-Aldrich	40,872-7
Penicillin/Streptomycin	Thermo Fisher Scientific	15140122	10,000 U/mL, 100 mL
Phosphate Buffered Saline (Dulbecco A)	OXOID	BR0014G
PhosStop	Roche	4906837001	phosphatase inhibitor
QIAGEN Plasmid Maxi Kit	Qiagen	12163	Step 3.10
Retinoic acid	Sigma-Aldrich	R2625-100mg
Subcellular Protein Fractionation Kit for cultured cells	Thermo Fisher Scientific	78840
Supported Nitrocellulose membrane	Biorad	1620097
TC-Plate 6well	SARSTEDT	833,920
TCS SP2 laser scanning confocal microscope	Leica	N/A
Triton x-100	Sigma-Aldrich	X100-500ml	Non-ionic surfactant
Trypsin-EDTA	Thermo Fisher Scientific	15400054	0.50%
Tween-20	Sigma-Aldrich	P9416-100ml
VECTASHIELD antifade mounting medium	Vector Laboratories	H-1000
Wizard Plus SV Minipreps DNA Purification Systems	Promega	A1330	Step 3.5