Oligomeric tau species are crucial to induce tau transmission between neurons and toxicity within neurons. USF investigators established a novel technique to measure tau oligomierization via visualizing green fluorescent protein (GFP). Mouse neuronal cells were used as the in vitro model to stably over-express two split superfolder GFP that each fused with a monomeric human tau. Dimerization of tau molecules immediately induce GFP complementation and fluorescence. Therefore, the process of tau oligomerization can be visualized by detecting green fluorescence and thus provides a valuable tool for investigating tau oligomer modifying drugs.
Validation of split GFP-Tau plasmids