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Description

Microtubule-associated protein 2 (UniProt: P15146, also known as MAP-2) is encoded by the Map2 (also known as Mtap2) gene (Gene ID: 25595) in Rat. MAPs are a family of proteins that bind to and stabilize microtubules. MAP4 is expressed ubiquitously while MAP1 and MAP2 are expressed primarily in neurons. MAP2 are cytoskeletal proteins that stabilize microtubules and prevents their depolymerization and may also have a stiffening effect on microtubules. MAP-2 plays an important role in brain neuron microtubule assembly. It also associates with neurofilaments and actin filaments and thereby guides interaction among microtubules, other cytoskeletal elements, and cytoplasmic organelles. Four different isoforms of MAP2 have been described that bind to microtubules through a domain near the carboxyl terminus. MAP2 isoforms are expressed only in neuronal cells and specifically in the cell bodies and dendrites. In the central nervous system, MAP-2 is confined to neuronal cell bodies and dendrites. However, some axons may also have small amounts of MAP-2. MAP-2 usually consists of MAP-2a and MAP-2b, ~280kDa each, and lower molecular weight MAP2c, which is present during neuronal differentiation in the developing nervous system. MAP-2 is a marker for neurons and is uniformly distributed throughout the cell when first expressed in cultured neurons. However, later it is selectively localized as dendritic development proceeds. MAP-2 can be phosphorylated at serine residues in K-X-G-S motifs by MAP/microtubule affinity-regulating kinase (MARK1 or MARK2) that results in detachment from microtubules, and their disassembly.