Background Neurofilament proteins are important constituents of neuronal cytoskeleton along with microtubules. Increased concentration neurofilament light protein in cerebrospinal fluid(CSF) and plasma is considered as a potential biomarker axonal degeneration [1]. Together tau, neurofilaments contained the neurofibrillary tangles (NFT), Alzheimer’s disease other tauopathies [2]. The goal this ...

ABSTRACT Mislocalization of the TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43; encoded by TARDBP) from nucleus to cytoplasm is a common feature neurodegenerative conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). The downstream in vivo cellular effects this mislocalization are not well understood. To investigate impact mislocalized TDP-43 on neuronal cell ...

The studies described here characterize abnormalities in the expression of neurofilament (NF) proteins in a clonal rat pheochromocytoma (PC12) cell line as compared with normal NF proteins in cultured rat sympathetic neurons (RSNs). Cytoskeletal extracts from PC12 cells grown in the presence (PC12+ cells) or absence (PC12- cells) of nerve growth factor (NGF) and from RSNs grown in the presence ...

P13suc1 sepharose-conjugated beads were used to extract the kinases that phosphorylate neurofilaments in the squid giant axon. Using Western blots and in vitro kinase assays, we demonstrated the presence of an active cdc2-like kinase and its putative regulators such as cyclin E, p13, and p67 in axoplasm and a P13-axoplasm complex (P13-Ax). Protein kinase A (PKA) and casein kinase (CK) I and II ...

Neuronal cytoplasmic intermediate filaments are principal structural and mechanical elements of the axon. Their expression during embryonic development follows a differential pattern, while their unregulated expression is correlated to neurodegenerative diseases. The largest neurofilament proteins of medium (NF-M) and high molecular weight (NF-H) were shown to modulate the axonal architecture a...

A new isoform of the actin-neurofilament linker protein BPAG has been found that binds to and stabilizes axonal microtubules. This and other newly identified microtubule-associated proteins are likely to be just the tip of an iceberg of multifunctional proteins that stabilize and crosslink cytoskeletal filament networks.

Chronic administration of electroconvulsive seizures (ECS), one of the most effective treatments for depression, induces sprouting of the mossy fibers in the hippocampus. This sprouting requires chronic ECS administration and appears to occur in the absence of hilar neuronal loss. Dynamic regulation of cytoarchitecture plays a vital role in such profound alterations of neuronal morphology. In p...

Two monoclonal antibodies (mabs) which recognized the 68 kDa subunit of the rat neurofilament triplet were isolated. In immunoblots with SDS-solubilized and reduced proteins, these mabs recognized their epitopes equally well in embryonic and in adult tissue. However, these epitopes were developmentally regulated in paraformaldehyde-fixed rat brain sections. They were abundant in all compartment...

Neurofilaments are synthesised and assembled in neuronal cell bodies, transported along axons and degraded at the synapse. However, in several pathological situations they aggregate in cell bodies or axons. To investigate their turnover when separated from their normal site of degradation, we used a previously described transgenic model characterised by perikaryal retention of neurofilaments, a...