Our laboratory studies tau protein, a microtubule associated protein that is critical to axonal development. We are currently investigating newly discovered interactions of tau that suggest a role for tau in signal transduction. We have found that tau interacts with non-receptor src family tyrosine kinases and is tyrosine phosphorylated. We hypothesize that the phosphorylation of tau controls its ability to stabilize microtubules and to associate with other components in the growth cone, including the plasma membrane and the non-receptor tyrosine kinases, src and fyn. We are investigating tau's role in signal transduction in 1) the growth cone, where microtubules are involved in growth cone motility in response to extracellular signals and in 2) cultured neuronal cell systems where tau is required for neurite outgrowth in response to growth factors.

Tau is also the primary component of the neurofibrillary tangles of Alzheimer's disease. We are investigating the role of tyrosine phosphorylation of tau in tangle formation in neurodegenerative disease. Additionally, recently, other inherited neurodegenerative diseases have been shown to be due to missense mutations in tau and to mutations that alter tau alternative splicing, leading to the overproduction of certain tau isoforms. We are investigating the function of these mutant forms of tau and the consequences of overproduction of the disease related tau isoforms.

Graduate School:
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Harvard University

Fellowship:
University of California,
San Francisco