Tau associates with actin in differentiating PC12 cells

The microtubule-associated protein tau may be involved in cell morphogenesis and axonal maintenance. In addition to microtubules, tau has been shown to interact with actin in vitro. In the present study interaction of tau and actin was investigated in PC12 cells. No interaction between tau and actin was observed without NGF treatment. Under NGF stimulation, tau distributed at ends of cellular extensions, where it associated with actin in a microtubule-independent manner. F-actin disruption revealed that relocalization and assembly of F-actin at the ends of cellular extensions were necessary for NGF-induced tau reorganization and association with actin. A truncated tau-GFP (tau(1-186)-GFP, N-terminal of tau) did not associate with actin. However, tau23(174-352)-GFP (carboxyl-terminal of Tau23) did associate with actin and the requirement for NGF was lost. Nevertheless, NGF boosted tau23(174-352)-GFP interaction with actin and promoted colocalization at the ends of cellular extensions. This suggests that the C-terminal of tau is required for associating with actin and the tau N-terminal may play a regulatory role in this process. A possible role for tau-actin interaction in neurite outgrowth is postulated.