Tau deficiency leads to the upregulation of BAF-57, a protein involved in neuron-specific gene repression

Although tau is mainly located in the cell cytoplasm, mostly bound to tubulin, it may also be found in the nucleus of neurons. Hence, we tested whether tau might play a role in regulating the expression of certain genes by comparing gene expression in mice containing or lacking the tau protein. Our results identified a significant difference in the expression of the smarce1 gene, which codes for the BAF-57 protein, a protein involved in the repression of neuron specific genes. These data suggest a role for tau in neuron maturation.