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The tau-like protein in silkworm (Bombyx mori) induces microtubule bundle formation

Qiao Wang1, Li Chen, Liang Chen

  • 1The Key Laboratory of Cell Proliferation and Differentiation of Ministry of Education, The State Key Laboratory of Bio-membrane and Membrane Bio-engineering, College of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.

Frontiers in Bioscience (Elite Edition)
|December 29, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Researchers identified a novel tau-like protein, BmTau, in silkworms. This protein functions similarly to its counterparts in bundling microtubules, crucial for neuronal structure.

Area of Science:

  • Molecular Biology
  • Cell Biology
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Tau proteins are essential microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs) involved in neuronal development and function.
  • MAPs regulate microtubule polymerization and spacing within axons of the central and peripheral nervous systems.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To clone and characterize a novel tau-like protein from the silkworm, Bombyx mori.
  • To investigate the functional role of this protein in microtubule organization.

Main Methods:

  • Gene cloning and sequencing of the BmTau protein.
  • Quantitative real-time PCR for BmTau expression analysis.
  • Immunocytochemical studies using EGFP-tagged BmTau in silkworm cells.

Main Results:

  • A tau-like protein, BmTau, was identified with a 723-base coding sequence, encoding a 30 kDa protein.
  • BmTau possesses four predicted microtubule-binding domains homologous to Drosophila orthologs.
  • Ubiquitous BmTau expression was observed, with high levels in the brain and lower levels in other tissues; BmTau was confirmed to bundle microtubules.

Conclusions:

  • BmTau is a functional microtubule-bundling protein, conserved across species.
  • The discovery of BmTau provides insights into the evolution and function of tau proteins in invertebrates.

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