Tau Interaction with Tubulin and Microtubules: From Purified Proteins to Cells

Tiphany de Bessa (1) , Gilles Breuzard (1) , Diane Allegro (1) , François Devred (1) , Vincent Peyrot (1) , Pascale Barbier (1)

1 CRO2 - Centre de Recherches en Oncologie biologique et Oncopharmacologie

Microtubules (MTs) play an important role in many cellular processes and are dynamic structures regulated by an important network of microtubules-associated proteins, MAPs, such as Tau. Tau has been discovered as an essential factor for MTs formation in vitro, and its region implicated in binding to MTs has been identified. By contrast, the affinity, the stoichiometry, and the topology of Tau-MTs interaction remain controversial. Indeed, depending on the experiment conditions a wide range of values have been obtained. In this chapter, we focus on three biophysical methods, turbidimetry, cosedimentation assay, and Förster Resonance Energy Transfer to study Tau-tubulin interaction both in vitro and in cell. We highlight precautions that must be taken in order to avoid pitfalls and we detail the nature of the conclusions that can be drawn from these methods about Tau-tubulin interaction.

Mots clés: FRET; Cosedimentation essay; Affinity constant; Microtubules; Tau protein; Turbidimetry; Tubulin

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]; Biochimie, Biologie Moléculaire; Biophysique; Biologie cellulaire

Tiphany de Bessa, Gilles Breuzard, Diane Allegro, François Devred, Vincent Peyrot, et al.. Tau Interaction with Tubulin and Microtubules: From Purified Proteins to Cells. Tau Protein, 1523, pp.61-85, 2017, ⟨10.1007/978-1-4939-6598-4_4⟩. ⟨hal-01744157⟩