Genes: Structure and Regulation
Mutations in Tau Gene Exon 10 Associated with FTDP-17 Alter the Activity of an Exonic Splicing Enhancer to Interact with Tra2β*

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Mutations in the human tau gene leading to aberrant splicing have been identified in FTDP-17, an autosomal dominant hereditary neurodegenerative disorder. Molecular mechanisms by which such mutations cause tau aberrant splicing were not understood. We characterized two mutations in exon 10 of the tau gene, N279K and Del280K. Our results revealed an exonic splicing enhancer element located in exon 10. The activity of this AG-rich splicing enhancer was altered by N279K and Del280K mutations. This exonic enhancer element interacts with human Tra2β protein. The interaction between Tra2β and the exonic splicing enhancer correlates with the activity of this enhancer element in stimulating splicing. Biochemical studies including in vitro splicing and RNA interference experiments in transfected cells support a role for Tra2β protein in regulating alternative splicing of human tau gene. Our results implicate the human tau gene as a target gene for the alternative splicing regulator Tra2β, suggesting that Tra2β may play a role in aberrant tau exon 10 alternative splicing and in the pathogenesis of tauopathies.

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This work was supported by National Institutes of Health Grant RO1 GM53945/AG17518 and a grant from the Muscular Dystrophy Association (to J. Y. W.) and by a scholarship from the Leukemia Society of America (to J. Y. W.). The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked “advertisement” in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

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Present address: Dept. of Pathology, St. Louis University, 3635 Vista Ave., St. Louis, MO 63110.