Estrogen-enhanced neurite growth: evidence for a selective induction of Tau and stable microtubules.

Estrogen stimulates the neurite outgrowth response of medial basal hypothalamic neurons maintained in culture. We show here that one effect of estrogen is to promote an increase in tau, but not in tubulin, microtubule-associated protein 1a (MAP-1a), or MAP-2 protein levels. This response precedes and accompanies an increase in stable microtubules and in neurite length. Taken collectively, our data suggest that estrogen-enhanced neurite growth is mediated by a selective induction of microtubule-stabilizing factors, namely, the tau proteins.