Novel screening cascade identifies MKK4 as key kinase regulating Tau phosphorylation at Ser422

Mol Cell Biochem. 2011 Nov;357(1-2):199-207. doi: 10.1007/s11010-011-0890-6. Epub 2011 Jun 3.

Abstract

Phosphorylation of Tau at serine 422 promotes Tau aggregation. The kinase that is responsible for this key phosphorylation event has so far not been identified but could be a potential drug target for Alzheimer's disease. We describe here an assay strategy to identify this kinase. Using a combination of screening a library of 65'000 kinase inhibitors and in vitro inhibitor target profiling of the screening hits using the Ambit kinase platform, MKK4 was identified as playing a key role in Tau-S422 phosphorylation in human neuroblastoma cells.

MeSH terms

  • Alzheimer Disease / metabolism*
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Drug Evaluation, Preclinical
  • High-Throughput Screening Assays
  • Humans
  • MAP Kinase Kinase 4 / metabolism*
  • Molecular Structure
  • Phosphorylation
  • Phosphotransferases / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Phosphotransferases / genetics
  • Phosphotransferases / metabolism
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / chemistry*
  • Serine / chemistry
  • Serine / metabolism*
  • tau Proteins / metabolism*

Substances

  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors
  • tau Proteins
  • Serine
  • Phosphotransferases
  • MAP Kinase Kinase 4
  • MAP2K4 protein, human