Early glycogen synthase kinase-3β and protein phosphatase 2A independent tau dephosphorylation during global brain ischaemia and reperfusion following cardiac arrest and the role of the adenosine monophosphate kinase pathway.

Abnormal tau phosphorylation (p-tau) has been shown after hypoxic damage to the brain associated with traumatic brain injury and stroke. As the level of p-tau is controlled by Glycogen Synthase Kinase ( GSK)-3β, Protein Phosphatase 2A ( PP2A) and Adenosine Monophosphate Kinase ( AMPK), different activity levels of these enzymes could be involved in tau phosphorylation following ischaemia. This study assessed the effects of global brain ischaemia/reperfusion on the immediate status of p-tau in a rat model of cardiac arrest ( CA) followed by cardiopulmonary resuscitation ( CPR). We reported an early dephosphorylation of tau at its AMPK sensitive residues, Ser396 and Ser262after 2 min of ischaemia, which did not recover during the first two hours of reperfusion, while the tau phosphorylation at GSK-3β sensitive but AMPK insensitive residues, Ser202/Thr205 ( AT8), as well as the total amount of tau remained unchanged. Our data showed no alteration in the activities of GSK-3β and PP2A during similar episodes of ischaemia of up to 8 min and reperfusion of up to 2 h, and 4 weeks recovery. Dephosphorylation of AMPK followed the same pattern as tau dephosphorylation during ischaemia/reperfusion. Catalase, another AMPK downstream substrate also showed a similar pattern of decline to p- AMPK, in ischaemic/reperfusion groups. This suggests the involvement of AMPK in changing the p-tau levels, indicating that tau dephosphorylation following ischaemia is not dependent on GSK-3β or PP2A activity, but is associated with AMPK dephosphorylation. We propose that a reduction in AMPK activity is a possible early mechanism responsible for tau dephosphorylation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]