Differentiation of neuroblastoma cells correlates with an altered splicing pattern of tau RNA

Morphological differentiation of N2A neuroblastoma cells is associated with an altered splicing of the gene of the microtubule-associated protein, tau. Two populations of RNA (coding for tau proteins containing three or four tubulin-binding motifs) are present in a similar proportion in undifferentiated neuroblastoma cells while in differentiated cells the proportion is changed in favour of that population coding for tau protein containing four tubulin-binding motifs. An increase in a high molecular weight tau isoforms correlates with the increase in the RNA population coding for four tubulin-binding motifs. A possible consequence of expressing a higher proportion of the tau protein containing four tubulin-binding motifs could be an increase in microtubule stability of differentiated neuroblastoma cells.