In this study, 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP, 10(-3) to 10(-4) M for 2 to 5 days) increased the expression of microtubule-associated tau protein in both the supernatant and pellet fractions of lysed SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells. The western blot using anti-tau-1 antibodies demonstrated that the cells contained at least six isoforms of tau proteins, five with molecular weights from 45 to 62 kD. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using primers coding whole length tau protein further confirmed the presence of tau in SH-SY5Y cells. The PCR product of tau in SH-SY5Y cells had approximately 1050 base pairs. MPTP caused an increased expression of the PCR product of tau, suggesting that the toxicant caused an increase in mRNA coding the tau protein. The expression of cytoskeletal tau protein may, therefore, provide a marker for MPTP neurotoxicity in SH-SY5Y cells.