Elsevier

Neuroscience Letters

Volume 398, Issue 3, 8 May 2006, Pages 246-250
Neuroscience Letters

Activated c-Jun is present in neurofibrillary tangles in Alzheimer's disease brains

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2006.01.031Get rights and content

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology is characterized by the presence of insoluble β-amyoid deposits and neurofibrillary tangles containing hyperphosphorylated tau. Increased expression of the immediate early gene product c-Jun has also been reported in post-mortem AD brains, and the presence of upstream regulators of c-Jun has been described in tangle formations. Here, we report the presence of c-Jun specifically phosphorylated on ser-63, but not ser-73, in tangle-bearing neurons and in ‘late-stage’ extracellular tangles in AD brains. Western blot analysis confirmed the presence of c-Jun phosphorylated on ser-63 but not on ser-73 in AD brain tissue. The expression of differentially phosphorylated c-Jun in the AD brain may reflect the contradictory roles of these phosphorylation sites in neurons. Furthermore, the inappropriate sequestration of phosphorylated c-Jun in tangles in AD brains may contribute to AD pathology and neurodegeneration.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a New Zealand Health Research Council Programme Grant, by the New Zealand Neurological Foundation and by the National Research Centre for Growth and Development. We thank the Neurological Foundation of New Zealand Human Brain Bank for providing the human brain tissue and the Biomedical Imaging Research Unit of The University of Auckland for their excellent expertise.

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