Author/Editor		Valencia, Rocio G.; Mihailovska, Eva; Winter, Lilli; Bauer, Katharina; Fischer, Irmgard; Walko, Gernot; Jorgačevski, Jernej; Potokar, Maja; Zorec, Robert; Wiche, Gerhard
Title		Plectin dysfunction in neurons leads to tau accumulation on microtubules affecting neuritogenesis, organelle trafficking, pain sensitivity and memory
Type		članek
Publication year		2020
Volume		str. str.
ISSN		0305-1846 - Neuropathology and applied neurobiology
Language		eng
Abstract		Aims: Plectin, a universally expressed multi-functional cytolinker protein, is crucial for intermediate filament networking, including crosstalk withactomyosin and microtubules. In addition to its involvement in a number of diseases affecting skin, skeletal muscle, heart, and other stress-exposed tissues, indications for a neuropathological role of plectin have emerged. Having identified P1c as the major isoform expressed in neural tissues in previous studies, our aim for the present work was to investigate whether, and by which mechanism(s), the targeted deletion of this isoform affects neuritogenesis and proper nerve cell functioning. Methods: For ex vivo phenotyping, we used dorsal root ganglion (DRG) and hippocampal neurons derived from isoform P1c-deficient and plectin-null mice, complemented by in vitro experiments using purified proteins and cell fractions. To assess the physiological significance of the phenotypic alterations observed in P1c-/- deficient neurons, P1c-/- and WT littermate mice were subjected to standard behavioural tests. Results: We demonstrate that P1c affects axonal microtubule dynamics by isoform-specific interaction with tubulin. P1c deficiency in neurons leads to altered dynamics of microtubules and excessive association with tau protein, affecting neuritogenesis, neurite branching, growth cone morphology, and translocation and directionality of movement of vesicles and mitochondria. On the organismal level, we found P1c deficiency manifesting as impaired pain sensitivity, diminished learning capabilities, and reduced long-term memory of mice. Conclusions: Revealing a regulatory role of plectin scaffolds in microtubule-dependent nerve cell functions, our results have potential implications for cytoskeleton-related neuropathies.
Keywords		plectin neurons memory and learning plectin nevroni spomin in učenje