Fig. 7.

Autophagy-deficient MEFs exhibit differential degradation of tau phospho-mutants. (A) Western blot of Atg5^+/+ and Atg5^-/- MEFs probed with antibodies to LC3 and β-actin. * Nonspecific band detected by the LC3 antibody. (B) Atg5^-/- MEFs were transfected with each tau construct. After 24 hours, cells were treated with 100 μM cycloheximide and harvested at 0, 12, and 24 hours. Cell lysates were analyzed on Western blots probed with antibodies to tau (DAKO) and β-actin. (C) The amount of tau remaining after cycloheximide treatment for 12 and 24 hours was calculated as the percentage of tau present at 0 hours. Values shown are mean ± standard error of the mean; n = 6; ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001, Student t test, relative to WTtau at 24 hours. Abbreviations: EGFP, enhanced green fluorescent protein; LC3, light chain 3; MEF, mouse embryonic fibroblasts.