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Updated: Aug 13, 2026

Assay for Phosphorylation and Microtubule Binding Along with Localization of Tau Protein in Colorectal Cancer Cells
Published on: October 10, 2017
Sodium tungstate decreases the phosphorylation of tau through GSK3 inactivation
Alberto Gómez-Ramos1, Jorge Domínguez, Delia Zafra
1Centro de Biología Molecular, CSIC/UAM, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, Madrid, Spain.
Abstract:
Tungstate treatment increases the phosphorylation of glycogen synthase kinase-3beta (GSK3beta) at serine 9, which triggers its inactivation both in cultured neural cells and in vivo. GSK3 phosphorylation is dependent on the activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2) induced by tungstate. As a consequence of GSK3 inactivation, the phosphorylation of several GSK3-dependent sites of the microtubule-associated protein tau decreases. Tungstate reduces tau phosphorylation only in primed sequences, namely, those prephosphorylated by other kinases before GSK3beta modification, which are serines 198, 199, or 202 and threonine 231. The phosphorylation at these sites is involved in reduction of the interaction of tau with microtubules that occurs in Alzheimer's disease.
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