Journal of Cell Science & Therapy
Open Access

Effects of curcumin on the hyperphosphorylated tau protein and microtubule associatedprotein 2 in Alzheimer’s disease

3^rd World Congress on Cell Science & Stem Cell Research

November 20-22, 2013 DoubleTree by Hilton Baltimore-BWI Airport, MD, USA

Yulin Zhang1, Yaqi Yang1, Shengliang Li1, Minjuan Wang1,2, Zibing Liang1 and Feng Li1

1Sun Yat-sen University Zhongshan School of Medicine, China 2Drexel University College of Medicine, USA

Posters: J Cell Sci Ther

Abstract :

Neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) are aggregates of paired helical filament tau (PHF-tau) that are most commonly known as a marker of Alzheimerâ�?�?s disease (AD). However, little is known about PHF-tau relationship to the microtubule associatedprotein 2 (MAP2). Due to the structural similarity of tau and MAP2, and a large amount of serine and threonine phosphorylation sites they contain, they not only have the common protein kinase, but they have a common phosphate enzyme PP-2A. In present study, we detected the relative quantification, location and proportion of PHF-tau and MAP2 in the brain specimens of AD patients. We found that the tau phosphorylation at serine 202 and threonine 205 was significantly increased in hippocampal and cortex of the brain, and the PHF-tau accumulation was always accompanied by a decrease of MAP2. The exact relationship between PHF-tau and MAP2 was confirmed with the quantitative examination. Curcumin can be as a treatment drug for AD, and can be used as fluorescent protein stain. We detected an accurate colocalization of curcumin and P-tau and MAP2 in the brain sections of AD patients, implying that curcumin could specially combine with the PHF-tau and MAP2. We confirmed that curcumin might up-regulate MAP2 level after A�?² exposure, and suppress the A�?²-induced tau hyperphosphorylation in vitro. Therefore, curcumin can be considered as a specific therapeutic agent in the tauopathies of AD.

Biography :

Email:

foreveryulin@163.com