FK506-binding protein 51 (encoded by Fkpb51) has been associated with stress-related mental illness. To identify its function, we studied the morphological consequences of Fkbp51 deletion. Arti cial Intelligence-assist morphological analysis identi ed that Fkbp51 knock-out (KO) mice possess more elongated CA and DG but shorter in height in coronal section when compared to WT. Primary cultured Fkbp51 KO hippocampal neurons were shown to exhibit larger dendritic outgrowth than wild-type (WT) controls, pharmacological manipulation experiments suggest that this may occur through regulation of microtubule-associated protein. Both in vitro primary culture and in vivo labeling support that FKBP51 regulates microtubule-associated protein expression. Furthermore, in the absence of differences in mRNA expression, Fkbp51 KO hippocampus exhibited decreases in βIII-tubulin, MAP2, and Tau protein levels, but a greater than 2.5-fold increase in Parkin protein. Overexpression and knock-down FKBP51 demonstrated that FKBP51 negatively regulates Parkin in a dose-dependent and ubiquitin-mediated manner. These results indicate a potential novel post-translational regulatory of Parkin by FKBP51 and signi cance of their interaction on disease onset.

FK506-binding protein 51 (encoded by Fkpb51) has been associated with stress-related mental illness. To identify its function, we studied the morphological consequences of Fkbp51 deletion. Artificial Intelligence-assist morphological analysis identified that Fkbp51 knock-out (KO) mice possess more elongated CA and DG but shorter in height in coronal section when compared to WT. Primary cultured Fkbp51 KO hippocampal neurons were shown to exhibit larger dendritic outgrowth than wild-type (WT) controls, pharmacological manipulation experiments suggest that this may occur through regulation of microtubule-associated protein. Both in vitro primary culture and in vivo labeling support that FKBP51 regulates microtubule-associated protein expression. Furthermore, in the absence of differences in mRNA expression, Fkbp51 KO hippocampus exhibited decreases in βIII-tubulin, MAP2, and Tau protein levels, but a greater than 2.5-fold increase in Parkin protein. Overexpression and knock-down FKBP51 demonstrated that FKBP51 negatively regulates Parkin in a dose-dependent and ubiquitin-mediated manner. These results indicate a potential novel post-translational regulatory of Parkin by FKBP51 and significance of their interaction on disease onset.