Receptor-type tyrosine-protein phosphatase zeta

Receptor-type tyrosine-protein phosphatase zeta (PTPRZ1, also called R-PTP-zeta) is a protein tyrosine phosphatase that negatively regulates oligodendrocyte precursor proliferation and supports differentiation into mature myelinating oligodendrocytes (UniProt: P23471). It also appears to protect oligodendrocytes against apoptosis and may facilitate contextual memory formation through dephosphorylation of signaling proteins.

PTPRZ1 functions primarily in oligodendrocyte biology and myelination, processes critical for central nervous system white matter integrity and neural signaling efficiency (UniProt: P23471). No disease associations are listed in UniProt, though its role in oligodendrocyte biology implicates it in myelin-dependent neurological processes.

PTPRZ1 is downregulated in Alzheimer's disease brain tissue relative to age-matched controls (mean log2FC: −0.27; Chaparral AD proteomics). This reduction was detected across the measured subcellular fractions in a human post-mortem AD brain proteomics study using TMT-labeled tandem mass spectrometry, suggesting potential relevance to AD-associated white matter or oligodendrocyte pathology.