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Cytoskeleton of the Nervous System pp 189–199Cite as

Alpha-Internexin: The Fourth Subunit of Neurofilaments in the Mature CNS

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Part of the book series: Advances in Neurobiology ((NEUROBIOL,volume 3))

Abstract

Because α-internexin is expressed in embryonic brain and can form homopolymers in vitro, it was originally considered to be an independent filament system critical mainly during brain development and distinct from that assembled in neurons from neurofilament (NF) triplet proteins. Analysis of mice engineered to eliminate individual or different combinations of NF triplet or α-internexin has proved that α-internexin and NF proteins are constituents of the same NF and functionally interdependent. α-Internexin satisfies all criteria previously used to establish the NF triplet proteins as subunits of a single intermediate filament and can now be considered to be a fourth subunit of NF in the adult CNS. Its role as a subunit of CNS NF explains the close relationship of α-internexin with the pathology of CNS diseases associated with NF accumulation.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank our colleagues Drs. Jean-Pierre Julien, Mala Rao, Ronald K. Liem, Takahiro Sasaki, Asok Kumar, Yuanxin Chen, Veeranna, Panaiyur Mohan, Joel Eyer, and Alan C. Peterson for their collaborative efforts in the NF studies. We also thank Nicole Piorkowski for manuscript preparation. This work was supported by Grant AG05604 from the National Institutes on Aging.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nathan Kline Institute, Center for Dementia Research, Orangeburg, NY, 10962, USA

    Aidong Yuan

  2. Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016, USA

    Aidong Yuan

  3. Center for Dementia Research, Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, 10962, USA

    Ralph A. Nixon

  4. Departments of Psychiatry and Cell Biology, New York University Langone Medical Center and School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016, USA

    Ralph A. Nixon

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Correspondence to Aidong Yuan .

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  1. Psychiatric Research, Nathan S. Kline Institute for, 140 Old Orangeburg Road, Orangeburg, 10962, New York, USA

    Ralph A. Nixon

  2. Psychiatric Research, Nathan S. Kline Institute for, 140 Old Orangeburg Road, Orangeburg, 10962, New York, USA

    Aidong Yuan

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Yuan, A., Nixon, R.A. (2011). Alpha-Internexin: The Fourth Subunit of Neurofilaments in the Mature CNS. In: Nixon, R., Yuan, A. (eds) Cytoskeleton of the Nervous System. Advances in Neurobiology, vol 3. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6787-9_8

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