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Mubeen H, Masood A, Zafar A, Khan ZQ, Khan MQ, Nisa AU. Insights into AlphaFold's breakthrough in neurodegenerative diseases. Ir J Med Sci 2024; 193:2577-2588. [PMID: 38833116 DOI: 10.1007/s11845-024-03721-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2024] [Accepted: 05/19/2024] [Indexed: 06/06/2024]
Abstract
Neurodegenerative diseases (ND) are disorders of the central nervous system (CNS) characterized by impairment in neurons' functions, and complete loss, leading to memory loss, and difficulty in learning, language, and movement processes. The most common among these NDs are Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD), although several other disorders also exist. These are frontotemporal dementia (FTD), amyotrophic lateral syndrome (ALS), Huntington's disease (HD), and others; the major pathological hallmark of NDs is the proteinopathies, either of amyloid-β (Aβ), tauopathies, or synucleinopathies. Aggregation of proteins that do not undergo normal configuration, either due to mutations or through some disturbance in cellular pathway contributes to the diseases. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and deep learning (DL) have proven to be successful in the diagnosis and treatment of various congenital diseases. DL approaches like AlphaFold (AF) are a major leap towards success in CNS disorders. This 3D protein geometry modeling algorithm developed by DeepMind has the potential to revolutionize biology. AF has the potential to predict 3D-protein confirmation at an accuracy level comparable to experimentally predicted one, with the additional advantage of precisely estimating protein interactions. This breakthrough will be beneficial to identify diseases' advancement and the disturbance of signaling pathways stimulating impaired functions of proteins. Though AlphaFold has solved a major problem in structural biology, it cannot predict membrane proteins-a beneficial approach for drug designing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hira Mubeen
- Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science & Technology, University of Central Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.
| | - Ammara Masood
- Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science & Technology, University of Central Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Asma Zafar
- Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science & Technology, University of Central Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Zohaira Qayyum Khan
- Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science & Technology, University of Central Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Muneeza Qayyum Khan
- Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science & Technology, University of Central Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Alim Un Nisa
- Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Lahore, Pakistan
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2
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Adil O, Adeyeye C, Shamsi MH. Electrografted Laser-Induced Graphene: Direct Detection of Neurodegenerative Disease Biomarker in Cerebrospinal Fluid. ACS Sens 2024; 9:4748-4757. [PMID: 39145609 DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.4c01150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/16/2024]
Abstract
There are more than 50 neurodegenerative disorders, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is one of the most common disorders that poses diagnostic and treatment challenges. The poly glycine-proline (polyGP) dipeptide repeat is a toxic protein that has been recognized as a pharmacodynamic biomarker of C9orf72-associated (c9+) ALS, a subtype of ALS that originates from genetic mutation. Early detection of polyGP will help healthcare providers start timely gene therapy. Herein, we developed a label-free electrochemical immunoassay for the simple detection of polyGP in unprocessed cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples collected from ALS patients in the National ALS Biorepository. For the first time, an electrografted laser-induced graphene (E-LIG) electrode system was employed in a sandwich format to detect polyGP using a label-free electrochemical impedance technique. The results show that the E-LIG-modified surface exhibited high sensitivity and selectivity in buffer and CSF media with limit of detection values of 0.19 and 0.27 ng/mL, respectively. The precision of the calibration model was better in CSF than in the buffer. The E-LIG immunosensor can easily select polyGP targets in the presence of other dipeptide proteins translated from the c9 gene. Further study with CSF samples from ALS patients demonstrated that the label-free E-LIG-based immunosensor not only quantified polyGP in the complex CSF matrix but also distinguished between c9+ and non-c9- ALS patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Omair Adil
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Sciences, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Carbondale, Illinois 62901, United States
| | - Comfort Adeyeye
- School of Biological Sciences, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Carbondale, Illinois 62901, United States
| | - Mohtashim H Shamsi
- School of Chemical and Biomolecular Sciences, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Carbondale, Illinois 62901, United States
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3
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Sachdev A, Gill K, Sckaff M, Birk AM, Aladesuyi Arogundade O, Brown KA, Chouhan RS, Issagholian-Lewin PO, Patel E, Watry HL, Bernardi MT, Keough KC, Tsai YC, Smith AST, Conklin BR, Clelland CD. Reversal of C9orf72 mutation-induced transcriptional dysregulation and pathology in cultured human neurons by allele-specific excision. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2307814121. [PMID: 38621131 PMCID: PMC11047104 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2307814121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2023] [Accepted: 03/01/2024] [Indexed: 04/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Efforts to genetically reverse C9orf72 pathology have been hampered by our incomplete understanding of the regulation of this complex locus. We generated five different genomic excisions at the C9orf72 locus in a patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) line and a non-diseased wild-type (WT) line (11 total isogenic lines), and examined gene expression and pathological hallmarks of C9 frontotemporal dementia/amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in motor neurons differentiated from these lines. Comparing the excisions in these isogenic series removed the confounding effects of different genomic backgrounds and allowed us to probe the effects of specific genomic changes. A coding single nucleotide polymorphism in the patient cell line allowed us to distinguish transcripts from the normal vs. mutant allele. Using digital droplet PCR (ddPCR), we determined that transcription from the mutant allele is upregulated at least 10-fold, and that sense transcription is independently regulated from each allele. Surprisingly, excision of the WT allele increased pathologic dipeptide repeat poly-GP expression from the mutant allele. Importantly, a single allele was sufficient to supply a normal amount of protein, suggesting that the C9orf72 gene is haplo-sufficient in induced motor neurons. Excision of the mutant repeat expansion reverted all pathology (RNA abnormalities, dipeptide repeat production, and TDP-43 pathology) and improved electrophysiological function, whereas silencing sense expression did not eliminate all dipeptide repeat proteins, presumably because of the antisense expression. These data increase our understanding of C9orf72 gene regulation and inform gene therapy approaches, including antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) and CRISPR gene editing.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Kamaljot Gill
- Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA94158
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA94158
| | - Maria Sckaff
- Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA94158
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA94158
| | | | - Olubankole Aladesuyi Arogundade
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA94158
- Memory & Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA94158
| | - Katherine A. Brown
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA94158
- Memory & Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA94158
| | - Runvir S. Chouhan
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA94158
- Memory & Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA94158
| | - Patrick Oliver Issagholian-Lewin
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA94158
- Memory & Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA94158
| | - Esha Patel
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA94158
- Memory & Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA94158
| | | | | | | | | | - Alec Simon Tulloch Smith
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA98195
- The Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA98195
| | - Bruce R. Conklin
- Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA94158
- Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA94143
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA94143
- Department of Pharmacology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA94158
| | - Claire Dudley Clelland
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA94158
- Memory & Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA94158
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4
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Udine E, DeJesus-Hernandez M, Tian S, das Neves SP, Crook R, Finch NA, Baker MC, Pottier C, Graff-Radford NR, Boeve BF, Petersen RC, Knopman DS, Josephs KA, Oskarsson B, Da Mesquita S, Petrucelli L, Gendron TF, Dickson DW, Rademakers R, van Blitterswijk M. Abundant transcriptomic alterations in the human cerebellum of patients with a C9orf72 repeat expansion. Acta Neuropathol 2024; 147:73. [PMID: 38641715 PMCID: PMC11031479 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-024-02720-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2023] [Revised: 02/28/2024] [Accepted: 03/18/2024] [Indexed: 04/21/2024]
Abstract
The most prominent genetic cause of both amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) is a repeat expansion in the gene C9orf72. Importantly, the transcriptomic consequences of the C9orf72 repeat expansion remain largely unclear. Here, we used short-read RNA sequencing (RNAseq) to profile the cerebellar transcriptome, detecting alterations in patients with a C9orf72 repeat expansion. We focused on the cerebellum, since key C9orf72-related pathologies are abundant in this neuroanatomical region, yet TDP-43 pathology and neuronal loss are minimal. Consistent with previous work, we showed a reduction in the expression of the C9orf72 gene and an elevation in homeobox genes, when comparing patients with the expansion to both patients without the C9orf72 repeat expansion and control subjects. Interestingly, we identified more than 1000 alternative splicing events, including 4 in genes previously associated with ALS and/or FTLD. We also found an increase of cryptic splicing in C9orf72 patients compared to patients without the expansion and controls. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the expression level of select RNA-binding proteins is associated with cryptic splice junction inclusion. Overall, this study explores the presence of widespread transcriptomic changes in the cerebellum, a region not confounded by severe neurodegeneration, in post-mortem tissue from C9orf72 patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evan Udine
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Rd S, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
- Neuroscience Ph.D. Program, Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
| | | | - Shulan Tian
- Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA
| | | | - Richard Crook
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Rd S, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
| | - NiCole A Finch
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Rd S, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
| | - Matthew C Baker
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Rd S, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
| | - Cyril Pottier
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Rd S, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Björn Oskarsson
- Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
| | - Sandro Da Mesquita
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Rd S, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
- Neuroscience Ph.D. Program, Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
| | - Leonard Petrucelli
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Rd S, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
- Neuroscience Ph.D. Program, Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
| | - Tania F Gendron
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Rd S, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
- Neuroscience Ph.D. Program, Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
| | - Dennis W Dickson
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Rd S, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
- Neuroscience Ph.D. Program, Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
| | - Rosa Rademakers
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Rd S, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
- VIB Center for Molecular Neurology, VIB, Antwerp, Belgium
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Marka van Blitterswijk
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Rd S, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA.
- Neuroscience Ph.D. Program, Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA.
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5
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Salomonsson SE, Maltos AM, Gill K, Aladesuyi Arogundade O, Brown KA, Sachdev A, Sckaff M, Lam KJK, Fisher IJ, Chouhan RS, Van Laar VS, Marley CB, McLaughlin I, Bankiewicz KS, Tsai YC, Conklin BR, Clelland CD. Validated assays for the quantification of C9orf72 human pathology. Sci Rep 2024; 14:828. [PMID: 38191789 PMCID: PMC10774390 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-50667-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 01/10/2024] Open
Abstract
A repeat expansion mutation in the C9orf72 gene is the leading known genetic cause of FTD and ALS. The C9orf72-ALS/FTD field has been plagued by a lack of reliable tools to monitor this genomic locus and its RNA and protein products. We have validated assays that quantify C9orf72 pathobiology at the DNA, RNA and protein levels using knock-out human iPSC lines as controls. Here we show that single-molecule sequencing can accurately measure the repeat expansion and faithfully report on changes to the C9orf72 locus in what has been a traditionally hard to sequence genomic region. This is of particular value to sizing and phasing the repeat expansion and determining changes to the gene locus after gene editing. We developed ddPCR assays to quantify two major C9orf72 transcript variants, which we validated by selective excision of their distinct transcriptional start sites. Using validated knock-out human iPSC lines, we validated 4 commercially available antibodies (of 9 tested) that were specific for C9orf72 protein quantification by Western blot, but none were specific for immunocytochemistry. We tested 15 combinations of antibodies against dipeptide repeat proteins (DPRs) across 66 concentrations using MSD immunoassay, and found two (against poly-GA and poly-GP) that yielded a 1.5-fold or greater signal increase in patient iPSC-motor neurons compared to knock-out control, and validated them in human postmortem and transgenic mouse brain tissue. Our validated DNA, RNA and protein assays are applicable to discovery research as well as clinical trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- S E Salomonsson
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Memory & Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - A M Maltos
- Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - K Gill
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Memory & Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - O Aladesuyi Arogundade
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Memory & Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - K A Brown
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Memory & Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - A Sachdev
- Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - M Sckaff
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Memory & Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - K J K Lam
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Memory & Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - I J Fisher
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Memory & Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - R S Chouhan
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Memory & Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - V S Van Laar
- Department of Neurological Surgery, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
- The Gene Therapy Institute, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - C B Marley
- Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | | | - K S Bankiewicz
- Department of Neurological Surgery, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
- The Gene Therapy Institute, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Y-C Tsai
- Pacific Biosciences, Menlo Park, CA, USA
| | - B R Conklin
- Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Departments of Medicine, Ophthalmology, and Pharmacology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - C D Clelland
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
- Memory & Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
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6
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Rogers ML, Schultz DW, Karnaros V, Shepheard SR. Urinary biomarkers for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: candidates, opportunities and considerations. Brain Commun 2023; 5:fcad287. [PMID: 37946793 PMCID: PMC10631861 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcad287] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2023] [Revised: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 10/24/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a relentless neurodegenerative disease that is mostly fatal within 3-5 years and is diagnosed on evidence of progressive upper and lower motor neuron degeneration. Around 15% of those with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis also have frontotemporal degeneration, and gene mutations account for ∼10%. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a variable heterogeneous disease, and it is becoming increasingly clear that numerous different disease processes culminate in the final degeneration of motor neurons. There is a profound need to clearly articulate and measure pathological process that occurs. Such information is needed to tailor treatments to individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis according to an individual's pathological fingerprint. For new candidate therapies, there is also a need for methods to select patients according to expected treatment outcomes and measure the success, or not, of treatments. Biomarkers are essential tools to fulfil these needs, and urine is a rich source for candidate biofluid biomarkers. This review will describe promising candidate urinary biomarkers of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and other possible urinary candidates in future areas of investigation as well as the limitations of urinary biomarkers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mary-Louise Rogers
- Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide 5042, South Australia, Australia
| | - David W Schultz
- Neurology Department and MND Clinic, Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide 5042, South Australia, Australia
| | - Vassilios Karnaros
- Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide 5042, South Australia, Australia
| | - Stephanie R Shepheard
- Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide 5042, South Australia, Australia
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Pickles S, Zanetti Alepuz D, Koike Y, Yue M, Tong J, Liu P, Zhou Y, Jansen-West K, Daughrity LM, Song Y, DeTure M, Oskarsson B, Graff-Radford NR, Boeve BF, Petersen RC, Josephs KA, Dickson DW, Ward ME, Dong L, Prudencio M, Cook CN, Petrucelli L. CRISPR interference to evaluate modifiers of C9ORF72-mediated toxicity in FTD. Front Cell Dev Biol 2023; 11:1251551. [PMID: 37614226 PMCID: PMC10443592 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2023.1251551] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2023] [Accepted: 07/26/2023] [Indexed: 08/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Treatments for neurodegenerative disease, including Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), remain rather limited, underscoring the need for greater mechanistic insight and disease-relevant models. Our ability to develop novel disease models of genetic risk factors, disease modifiers, and other FTD/ALS-relevant targets is impeded by the significant amount of time and capital required to develop conventional knockout and transgenic mice. To overcome these limitations, we have generated a novel CRISPRi interference (CRISPRi) knockin mouse. CRISPRi uses a catalytically dead form of Cas9, fused to a transcriptional repressor to knockdown protein expression, following the introduction of single guide RNA against the gene of interest. To validate the utility of this model we have selected the TAR DNA binding protein (TDP-43) splicing target, stathmin-2 (STMN2). STMN2 RNA is downregulated in FTD/ALS due to loss of TDP-43 activity and STMN2 loss is suggested to play a role in ALS pathogenesis. The involvement of STMN2 loss of function in FTD has yet to be determined. We find that STMN2 protein levels in familial FTD cases are significantly reduced compared to controls, supporting that STMN2 depletion may be involved in the pathogenesis of FTD. Here, we provide proof-of-concept that we can simultaneously knock down Stmn2 and express the expanded repeat in the Chromosome 9 open reading frame 72 (C9ORF72) gene, successfully replicating features of C9-associated pathology. Of interest, depletion of Stmn2 had no effect on expression or deposition of dipeptide repeat proteins (DPRs), but significantly decreased the number of phosphorylated Tdp-43 (pTdp-43) inclusions. We submit that our novel CRISPRi mouse provides a versatile and rapid method to silence gene expression in vivo and propose this model will be useful to understand gene function in isolation or in the context of other neurodegenerative disease models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Pickles
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, Mayo Graduate School, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | | | - Yuka Koike
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | - Mei Yue
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | - Jimei Tong
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | - Pinghu Liu
- Genetic Engineering Core, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Yugui Zhou
- Genetic Engineering Core, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Karen Jansen-West
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | | | - Yuping Song
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | - Michael DeTure
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | - Björn Oskarsson
- Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | | | - Bradley F. Boeve
- Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States
| | | | - Keith A. Josephs
- Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States
| | - Dennis W. Dickson
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, Mayo Graduate School, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
- Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | - Michael E. Ward
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Lijin Dong
- Genetic Engineering Core, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Mercedes Prudencio
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, Mayo Graduate School, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | - Casey N. Cook
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, Mayo Graduate School, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | - Leonard Petrucelli
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, Mayo Graduate School, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
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8
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Arnold FJ, Nguyen AD, Bedlack RS, Bennett CL, La Spada AR. Intercellular transmission of pathogenic proteins in ALS: Exploring the pathogenic wave. Neurobiol Dis 2023:106218. [PMID: 37394036 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2023.106218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2023] [Revised: 06/16/2023] [Accepted: 06/28/2023] [Indexed: 07/04/2023] Open
Abstract
In patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), disease symptoms and pathology typically spread in a predictable spatiotemporal pattern beginning at a focal site of onset and progressing along defined neuroanatomical tracts. Like other neurodegenerative diseases, ALS is characterized by the presence of protein aggregates in postmortem patient tissue. Cytoplasmic, ubiquitin-positive aggregates of TDP-43 are observed in approximately 97% of sporadic and familial ALS patients, while SOD1 inclusions are likely specific to cases of SOD1-ALS. Additionally, the most common subtype of familial ALS, caused by a hexanucleotide repeat expansion in the first intron of the C9orf72 gene (C9-ALS), is further characterized by the presence of aggregated dipeptide repeat proteins (DPRs). As we will describe, cell-to-cell propagation of these pathological proteins tightly correlates with the contiguous spread of disease. While TDP-43 and SOD1 are capable of seeding protein misfolding and aggregation in a prion-like manner, C9orf72 DPRs appear to induce (and transmit) a 'disease state' more generally. Multiple mechanisms of intercellular transport have been described for all of these proteins, including anterograde and retrograde axonal transport, extracellular vesicle secretion, and macropinocytosis. In addition to neuron-to-neuron transmission, transmission of pathological proteins occurs between neurons and glia. Given that the spread of ALS disease pathology corresponds with the spread of symptoms in patients, the various mechanisms by which ALS-associated protein aggregates propagate through the central nervous system should be closely examined.
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Affiliation(s)
- F J Arnold
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA; Department of Neurology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - A D Nguyen
- Department of Neurology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - R S Bedlack
- Department of Neurology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - C L Bennett
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA; Department of Neurology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
| | - A R La Spada
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA; Department of Neurology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA; Departments of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA; Department of Neurology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA; Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA; UCI Center for Neurotherapeutics, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA.
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9
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Van't Spijker HM, Almeida S. How villains are made: The translation of dipeptide repeat proteins in C9ORF72-ALS/FTD. Gene 2023; 858:147167. [PMID: 36621656 PMCID: PMC9928902 DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2023.147167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2022] [Accepted: 01/03/2023] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
A hexanucleotide repeat expansion in the C9ORF72 gene is the most common genetic alteration associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). These neurodegenerative diseases share genetic, clinical and pathological features. The mutation in C9ORF72 appears to drive pathogenesis through a combination of loss of C9ORF72 normal function and gain of toxic effects due to the repeat expansion, which result in aggregation prone expanded RNAs and dipeptide repeat (DPR) proteins. Studies in cellular and animal models indicate that the DPR proteins are the more toxic species. Thus, a large body of research has focused on identifying the cellular pathways most directly impacted by these toxic proteins, with the goal of characterizing disease pathogenesis and nominating potential targets for therapeutic development. The preventative block of the production of the toxic proteins before they can cause harm is a second strategy of intense focus. Despite the considerable amount of effort dedicated to this prophylactic approach, it is still unclear how the DPR proteins are synthesized from RNAs harboring repeat expansions. In this review, we summarize our current knowledge of the specific protein translation mechanisms shown to account for the synthesis of DPR proteins. We will then discuss how enhanced understanding of the composition of these toxic effectors could help in refining disease mechanisms, and paving the way to identify and design effective prophylactic therapies for C9ORF72 ALS-FTD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heleen M Van't Spijker
- Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
| | - Sandra Almeida
- Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA.
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10
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Tu WY, Xu W, Zhang J, Qi S, Bai L, Shen C, Zhang K. C9orf72 poly-GA proteins impair neuromuscular transmission. Zool Res 2023; 44:331-340. [PMID: 36799225 PMCID: PMC10083233 DOI: 10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2022.356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2022] [Accepted: 02/15/2023] [Indexed: 02/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating motoneuron disease, in which lower motoneurons lose control of skeletal muscles. Degeneration of neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) occurs at the initial stage of ALS. Dipeptide repeat proteins (DPRs) from G4C2 repeat-associated non-ATG (RAN) translation are known to cause C9orf72-associated ALS (C9-ALS). However, DPR inclusion burdens are weakly correlated with neurodegenerative areas in C9-ALS patients, indicating that DPRs may exert cell non-autonomous effects, in addition to the known intracellular pathological mechanisms. Here, we report that poly-GA, the most abundant form of DPR in C9-ALS, is released from cells. Local administration of poly-GA proteins in peripheral synaptic regions causes muscle weakness and impaired neuromuscular transmission in vivo. The NMJ structure cannot be maintained, as evidenced by the fragmentation of postsynaptic acetylcholine receptor (AChR) clusters and distortion of presynaptic nerve terminals. Mechanistic study demonstrated that extracellular poly-GA sequesters soluble Agrin ligands and inhibits Agrin-MuSK signaling. Our findings provide a novel cell non-autonomous mechanism by which poly-GA impairs NMJs in C9-ALS. Thus, targeting NMJs could be an early therapeutic intervention for C9-ALS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wen-Yo Tu
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Pancreatic Disease, Department of Neurobiology, First Affiliated Hospital, Institute of Translational Medicine, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310020, China
| | - Wentao Xu
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Pancreatic Disease, Department of Neurobiology, First Affiliated Hospital, Institute of Translational Medicine, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310020, China
| | - Jianmin Zhang
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Pancreatic Disease, Department of Neurobiology, First Affiliated Hospital, Institute of Translational Medicine, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310020, China
| | - Shuyuan Qi
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Pancreatic Disease, Department of Neurobiology, First Affiliated Hospital, Institute of Translational Medicine, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310020, China
| | - Lei Bai
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Pancreatic Disease, Department of Neurobiology, First Affiliated Hospital, Institute of Translational Medicine, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310020, China
| | - Chengyong Shen
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Pancreatic Disease, Department of Neurobiology, First Affiliated Hospital, Institute of Translational Medicine, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310020, China
- MOE Frontier Science, Center for Brain Research and Brain-Machine Integration, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310058, China. E-mail:
| | - Kejing Zhang
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Pancreatic Disease, Department of Neurobiology, First Affiliated Hospital, Institute of Translational Medicine, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310020, China. E-mail:
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11
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Lopez-Herdoiza MB, Bauché S, Wilmet B, Le Duigou C, Roussel D, Frah M, Béal J, Devely G, Boluda S, Frick P, Bouteiller D, Dussaud S, Guillabert P, Dalle C, Dumont M, Camuzat A, Saracino D, Barbier M, Bruneteau G, Ravassard P, Neumann M, Nicole S, Le Ber I, Brice A, Latouche M. C9ORF72 knockdown triggers FTD-like symptoms and cell pathology in mice. Front Cell Neurosci 2023; 17:1155929. [PMID: 37138765 PMCID: PMC10149765 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2023.1155929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 03/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The GGGGCC intronic repeat expansion within C9ORF72 is the most common genetic cause of ALS and FTD. This mutation results in toxic gain of function through accumulation of expanded RNA foci and aggregation of abnormally translated dipeptide repeat proteins, as well as loss of function due to impaired transcription of C9ORF72. A number of in vivo and in vitro models of gain and loss of function effects have suggested that both mechanisms synergize to cause the disease. However, the contribution of the loss of function mechanism remains poorly understood. We have generated C9ORF72 knockdown mice to mimic C9-FTD/ALS patients haploinsufficiency and investigate the role of this loss of function in the pathogenesis. We found that decreasing C9ORF72 leads to anomalies of the autophagy/lysosomal pathway, cytoplasmic accumulation of TDP-43 and decreased synaptic density in the cortex. Knockdown mice also developed FTD-like behavioral deficits and mild motor phenotypes at a later stage. These findings show that C9ORF72 partial loss of function contributes to the damaging events leading to C9-FTD/ALS.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Stephanie Bauché
- Institut du Cerveau–Paris Brain Institute–ICM, Inserm, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Baptiste Wilmet
- Institut du Cerveau–Paris Brain Institute–ICM, Inserm, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Caroline Le Duigou
- Institut du Cerveau–Paris Brain Institute–ICM, Inserm, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Delphine Roussel
- Institut du Cerveau–Paris Brain Institute–ICM, Inserm, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Magali Frah
- Institut du Cerveau–Paris Brain Institute–ICM, Inserm, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Jonas Béal
- Institut du Cerveau–Paris Brain Institute–ICM, Inserm, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Gabin Devely
- Institut du Cerveau–Paris Brain Institute–ICM, Inserm, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Susana Boluda
- Institut du Cerveau–Paris Brain Institute–ICM, Inserm, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Petra Frick
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Tübingen, Germany
| | | | - Sébastien Dussaud
- Institut du Cerveau–Paris Brain Institute–ICM, Inserm, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Pierre Guillabert
- Institut du Cerveau–Paris Brain Institute–ICM, Inserm, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Carine Dalle
- Institut du Cerveau–Paris Brain Institute–ICM, Inserm, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Magali Dumont
- Institut du Cerveau–Paris Brain Institute–ICM, Inserm, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Agnes Camuzat
- Institut du Cerveau–Paris Brain Institute–ICM, Inserm, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Dario Saracino
- Institut du Cerveau–Paris Brain Institute–ICM, Inserm, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Mathieu Barbier
- Institut du Cerveau–Paris Brain Institute–ICM, Inserm, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Gaelle Bruneteau
- Institut du Cerveau–Paris Brain Institute–ICM, Inserm, CNRS, Paris, France
| | | | - Manuela Neumann
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Tübingen, Germany
- Department of Neuropathology, Tübingen University Hospital, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Sophie Nicole
- Institut du Cerveau–Paris Brain Institute–ICM, Inserm, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Isabelle Le Ber
- Institut du Cerveau–Paris Brain Institute–ICM, Inserm, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Alexis Brice
- Institut du Cerveau–Paris Brain Institute–ICM, Inserm, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Morwena Latouche
- Institut du Cerveau–Paris Brain Institute–ICM, Inserm, CNRS, Paris, France
- EPHE, Neurogenetics Team, PSL Research University, Paris, France
- *Correspondence: Morwena Latouche,
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12
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Comprehensive evaluation of human-derived anti-poly-GA antibodies in cellular and animal models of C9orf72 disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2123487119. [PMID: 36454749 PMCID: PMC9894253 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2123487119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Hexanucleotide G4C2 repeat expansions in the C9orf72 gene are the most common genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia. Dipeptide repeat proteins (DPRs) generated by translation of repeat-containing RNAs show toxic effects in vivo as well as in vitro and are key targets for therapeutic intervention. We generated human antibodies that bind DPRs with high affinity and specificity. Anti-GA antibodies engaged extra- and intra-cellular poly-GA and reduced aggregate formation in a poly-GA overexpressing human cell line. However, antibody treatment in human neuronal cultures synthesizing exogenous poly-GA resulted in the formation of large extracellular immune complexes and did not affect accumulation of intracellular poly-GA aggregates. Treatment with antibodies was also shown to directly alter the morphological and biochemical properties of poly-GA and to shift poly-GA/antibody complexes to more rapidly sedimenting ones. These alterations were not observed with poly-GP and have important implications for accurate measurement of poly-GA levels including the need to evaluate all centrifugation fractions and disrupt the interaction between treatment antibodies and poly-GA by denaturation. Targeting poly-GA and poly-GP in two mouse models expressing G4C2 repeats by systemic antibody delivery for up to 16 mo was well-tolerated and led to measurable brain penetration of antibodies. Long-term treatment with anti-GA antibodies produced improvement in an open-field movement test in aged C9orf72450 mice. However, chronic administration of anti-GA antibodies in AAV-(G4C2)149 mice was associated with increased levels of poly-GA detected by immunoassay and did not significantly reduce poly-GA aggregates or alleviate disease progression in this model.
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13
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Gao J, Mewborne QT, Girdhar A, Sheth U, Coyne AN, Punathil R, Kang BG, Dasovich M, Veire A, Hernandez MD, Liu S, Shi Z, Dafinca R, Fouquerel E, Talbot K, Kam TI, Zhang YJ, Dickson D, Petrucelli L, van Blitterswijk M, Guo L, Dawson TM, Dawson VL, Leung AKL, Lloyd TE, Gendron TF, Rothstein JD, Zhang K. Poly(ADP-ribose) promotes toxicity of C9ORF72 arginine-rich dipeptide repeat proteins. Sci Transl Med 2022; 14:eabq3215. [PMID: 36103513 PMCID: PMC10359073 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abq3215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Arginine-rich dipeptide repeat proteins (R-DPRs), abnormal translational products of a GGGGCC hexanucleotide repeat expansion in C9ORF72, play a critical role in C9ORF72-related amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), the most common genetic form of the disorders (c9ALS/FTD). R-DPRs form liquid condensates in vitro, induce stress granule formation in cultured cells, aggregate, and sometimes coaggregate with TDP-43 in postmortem tissue from patients with c9ALS/FTD. However, how these processes are regulated is unclear. Here, we show that loss of poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR) suppresses neurodegeneration in c9ALS/FTD fly models and neurons differentiated from patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells. Mechanistically, PAR induces R-DPR condensation and promotes R-DPR-induced stress granule formation and TDP-43 aggregation. Moreover, PAR associates with insoluble R-DPR and TDP-43 in postmortem tissue from patients. These findings identified PAR as a promoter of R-DPR toxicity and thus a potential target for treating c9ALS/FTD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junli Gao
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | | | - Amandeep Girdhar
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
| | - Udit Sheth
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - Alyssa N. Coyne
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Brain Science Institute, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Ritika Punathil
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - Bong Gu Kang
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Morgan Dasovich
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Chemistry, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
| | - Austin Veire
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | | | - Shuaichen Liu
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Zheng Shi
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| | - Ruxandra Dafinca
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK
| | - Elise Fouquerel
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
| | - Kevin Talbot
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK
| | - Tae-In Kam
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Yong-Jie Zhang
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - Dennis Dickson
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - Leonard Petrucelli
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | | | - Lin Guo
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
| | - Ted M. Dawson
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Neuroregeneration and Stem Cell Programs, Institute for Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Valina L. Dawson
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Neuroregeneration and Stem Cell Programs, Institute for Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Anthony K. L. Leung
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- McKusick-Nathans Department of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Thomas E. Lloyd
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Tania F. Gendron
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - Jeffrey D. Rothstein
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Brain Science Institute, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Ke Zhang
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
- Institute of Neurological Diseases, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518132, China
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14
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Kaliszewska A, Allison J, Col TT, Shaw C, Arias N. Elucidating the Role of Cerebellar Synaptic Dysfunction in C9orf72-ALS/FTD - a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. CEREBELLUM (LONDON, ENGLAND) 2022; 21:681-714. [PMID: 34491551 PMCID: PMC9325807 DOI: 10.1007/s12311-021-01320-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
A hexanucleotide repeat expansion in the C9orf72 gene is the most common genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) with synaptic dysfunction identified as an early pathological hallmark. Although TDP-43 pathology and overt neurodegeneration are largely absent from the cerebellum, the pathological hallmarks of RNA foci and dipeptide repeat protein (DPR) inclusions are most abundant. Here, we present a systematic literature search in the databases of PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science and Science Direct up until March 5, 2021, which yielded 19,515 publications. Following the exclusion criteria, 72 articles were included having referred to C9orf72, synapses and the cerebellum. Meta-analyses were conducted on studies which reported experimental and control groups with means and standard deviations extracted from figures using the online tool PlotDigitizer. This revealed dendritic defects (P = 0.03), reduced C9orf72 in human patients (P = 0.005) and DPR-related neuronal loss (P = 0.0006) but no neuromuscular junction abnormalities (P = 0.29) or cerebellar neuronal loss (P = 0.23). Our results suggest that dendritic arborisation defects, synaptic gene dysregulation and altered synaptic neurotransmission may drive cerebellar synaptic dysfunction in C9-ALS/FTD. In this review, we discuss how the chronological appearance of the different pathological hallmarks alters synaptic integrity which may have profound implications for disease progression. We conclude that a reduction in C9orf72 protein levels combined with the accumulation of RNA foci and DPRs act synergistically to drive C9 synaptopathy in the cerebellum of C9-ALS/FTD patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aleksandra Kaliszewska
- UK Dementia Research Institute At King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Department of Basic & Clinical Neuroscience, Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute, 5 Cutcombe road, Camberwell, SE59RX, London, UK
| | - Joseph Allison
- UK Dementia Research Institute At King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Department of Basic & Clinical Neuroscience, Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute, 5 Cutcombe road, Camberwell, SE59RX, London, UK
| | - Tarik-Tarkan Col
- UK Dementia Research Institute At King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Department of Basic & Clinical Neuroscience, Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute, 5 Cutcombe road, Camberwell, SE59RX, London, UK
| | - Christopher Shaw
- UK Dementia Research Institute At King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Department of Basic & Clinical Neuroscience, Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute, 5 Cutcombe road, Camberwell, SE59RX, London, UK
- Centre for Brain Research, University of Auckland, 85 Grafton Road, Auckland, 1023, New Zealand
| | - Natalia Arias
- UK Dementia Research Institute At King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Department of Basic & Clinical Neuroscience, Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute, 5 Cutcombe road, Camberwell, SE59RX, London, UK.
- INEUROPA, Instituto de Neurociencias del Principado de Asturias, Plaza Feijoo s/n, 33003, Oviedo, Spain.
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15
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Pickles S, Gendron TF, Koike Y, Yue M, Song Y, Kachergus JM, Shi J, DeTure M, Thompson EA, Oskarsson B, Graff-Radford NR, Boeve BF, Petersen RC, Wszolek ZK, Josephs KA, Dickson DW, Petrucelli L, Cook CN, Prudencio M. Evidence of cerebellar TDP-43 loss of function in FTLD-TDP. Acta Neuropathol Commun 2022; 10:107. [PMID: 35879741 PMCID: PMC9310392 DOI: 10.1186/s40478-022-01408-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2022] [Accepted: 07/11/2022] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Frontotemporal lobar degeneration with TDP-43 pathology (FTLD-TDP) is a neurodegenerative disease primarily affecting the frontal and/or temporal cortices. However, a growing body of evidence suggests that the cerebellum contributes to biochemical, cognitive, and behavioral changes in FTLD-TDP. To evaluate cerebellar TDP-43 expression and function in FTLD-TDP, we analyzed TDP-43 protein levels and the splicing of a TDP-43 target, STMN2, in the cerebellum of 95 FTLD-TDP cases and 25 non-neurological disease controls. Soluble TDP-43 was decreased in the cerebellum of FTLD-TDP cases but a concomitant increase in insoluble TDP-43 was not seen. Truncated STMN2 transcripts, an indicator of TDP-43 dysfunction, were elevated in the cerebellum of FTLD-TDP cases and inversely associated with TDP-43 levels. Additionally, lower cerebellar TDP-43 associated with a younger age at disease onset. We provide evidence of TDP-43 loss of function in the cerebellum in FTLD-TDP, supporting further investigation into this understudied brain region.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Pickles
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Mangurian Research Building, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
- Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Jacksonville, FL, USA
| | - Tania F Gendron
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Mangurian Research Building, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
- Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Jacksonville, FL, USA
| | - Yuka Koike
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Mangurian Research Building, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
- Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Jacksonville, FL, USA
| | - Mei Yue
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Mangurian Research Building, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
| | - Yuping Song
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Mangurian Research Building, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
| | | | - J Shi
- Department of Cancer Biology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA
| | - Michael DeTure
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Mangurian Research Building, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
- Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Jacksonville, FL, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Dennis W Dickson
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Mangurian Research Building, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
- Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Jacksonville, FL, USA
| | - Leonard Petrucelli
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Mangurian Research Building, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
- Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Jacksonville, FL, USA
| | - Casey N Cook
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Mangurian Research Building, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA.
- Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Jacksonville, FL, USA.
| | - Mercedes Prudencio
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Mangurian Research Building, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA.
- Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Jacksonville, FL, USA.
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16
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Liu Y, Xing H, Ernst AF, Liu C, Maugee C, Yokoi F, Lakshmana M, Li Y. Hyperactivity of Purkinje cell and motor deficits in C9orf72 knockout mice. Mol Cell Neurosci 2022; 121:103756. [PMID: 35843530 PMCID: PMC10369482 DOI: 10.1016/j.mcn.2022.103756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2022] [Accepted: 07/11/2022] [Indexed: 10/17/2022] Open
Abstract
A hexanucleotide (GGGGCC) repeat expansion in the first intron of the C9ORF72 gene is the most frequently reported genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The cerebellum has not traditionally been thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of C9ORF72-associated ALS/FTD, but recent evidence suggested a potential role. C9ORF72 is highly expressed in the cerebellum. Decreased C9ORF72 transcript and protein levels were detected in the postmortem cerebellum, suggesting a loss-of-function effect of C9ORF72 mutation. This study investigated the role of loss of C9ORF72 function using a C9orf72 knockout mouse line. C9orf72 deficiency led to motor impairment in rotarod, beam-walking, paw-print, open-field, and grip-strength tests. Purkinje cells are the sole output neurons in the cerebellum, and we next determined their involvement in the motor phenotypes. We found hyperactivity of Purkinje cells in the C9orf72 knockout mouse accompanied by a significant increase of the large-conductance calcium-activated potassium channel (BK) protein in the cerebellum. The link between BK and Purkinje cell firing was demonstrated by the acute application of the BK activator that increased the firing frequency of the Purkinje cells ex vivo. In vivo chemogenetic activation of Purkinje cells in wild-type mice led to similar motor deficits in rotarod and beam-walking tests. Our results highlight that C9ORF72 loss alters the activity of the Purkinje cell and potentially the pathogenesis of the disease. Manipulating the Purkinje cell firing or cerebellar output may contribute to C9ORF72-associated ALS/FTD treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuning Liu
- Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States; Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Hong Xing
- Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Alexis F Ernst
- Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Canna Liu
- Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Christian Maugee
- Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States; Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Fumiaki Yokoi
- Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Madepalli Lakshmana
- Department of Immunology and Nano-Medicine, The Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Yuqing Li
- Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States.
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17
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Krishnan G, Raitcheva D, Bartlett D, Prudencio M, McKenna-Yasek DM, Douthwright C, Oskarsson BE, Ladha S, King OD, Barmada SJ, Miller TM, Bowser R, Watts JK, Petrucelli L, Brown RH, Kankel MW, Gao FB. Poly(GR) and poly(GA) in cerebrospinal fluid as potential biomarkers for C9ORF72-ALS/FTD. Nat Commun 2022; 13:2799. [PMID: 35589711 PMCID: PMC9119980 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-30387-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2021] [Accepted: 04/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
GGGGCC repeat expansion in C9ORF72, which can be translated in both sense and antisense directions into five dipeptide repeat (DPR) proteins, including poly(GP), poly(GR), and poly(GA), is the most common genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Here we developed sensitive assays that can detect poly(GA) and poly(GR) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with C9ORF72 mutations. CSF poly(GA) and poly(GR) levels did not correlate with age at disease onset, disease duration, or rate of decline of ALS Functional Rating Scale, and the average levels of these DPR proteins were similar in symptomatic and pre-symptomatic patients with C9ORF72 mutations. However, in a patient with C9ORF72-ALS who was treated with antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) targeting the aberrant C9ORF72 transcript, CSF poly(GA) and poly(GR) levels decreased approximately 50% within 6 weeks, indicating they may serve as sensitive fluid-based biomarkers in studies directed against the production of GGGGCC repeat RNAs or DPR proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gopinath Krishnan
- Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA
| | | | - Daniel Bartlett
- Biomarkers, Clinical Sciences Biogen, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
| | | | - Diane M McKenna-Yasek
- Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA
| | - Catherine Douthwright
- Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA
| | | | - Shafeeq Ladha
- Departments of Neurology and Translational Neuroscience, St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center and Barrow Neurological Institute, 350W Thomas Road, Phoenix, AZ, 85013, USA
| | - Oliver D King
- Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA
| | - Sami J Barmada
- Department of Neurology, University of Michigan, 4005 BSRB, 109 Zina Pitcher Place, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2200, USA
| | - Timothy M Miller
- Department of Neurology, Washington University, Saint Louis, MI, 63110, USA
| | - Robert Bowser
- Departments of Neurology and Translational Neuroscience, St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center and Barrow Neurological Institute, 350W Thomas Road, Phoenix, AZ, 85013, USA
| | - Jonathan K Watts
- RNA Therapeutics Institute and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, UMass Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA
| | | | - Robert H Brown
- Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA
| | - Mark W Kankel
- Neuromuscular & Movement Disorders, Biogen, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA.
- Apple Tree Partners (ATP) Research Labs, Branford, CT, 06405, USA.
| | - Fen-Biao Gao
- Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA.
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18
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Hasan R, Humphrey J, Bettencourt C, Newcombe J, Lashley T, Fratta P, Raj T. Transcriptomic analysis of frontotemporal lobar degeneration with TDP-43 pathology reveals cellular alterations across multiple brain regions. Acta Neuropathol 2022; 143:383-401. [PMID: 34961893 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-021-02399-9/figures/4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2021] [Revised: 12/07/2021] [Accepted: 12/10/2021] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) is a group of heterogeneous neurodegenerative disorders affecting the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. Nuclear loss and cytoplasmic aggregation of the RNA-binding protein TDP-43 represents the major FTLD pathology, known as FTLD-TDP. To date, there is no effective treatment for FTLD-TDP due to an incomplete understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying disease development. Here we compared postmortem tissue RNA-seq transcriptomes from the frontal cortex, temporal cortex, and cerebellum between 28 controls and 30 FTLD-TDP patients to profile changes in cell-type composition, gene expression and transcript usage. We observed downregulation of neuronal markers in all three regions of the brain, accompanied by upregulation of microglia, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes, as well as endothelial cells and pericytes, suggesting shifts in both immune activation and within the vasculature. We validate our estimates of neuronal loss using neuropathological atrophy scores and show that neuronal loss in the cortex can be mainly attributed to excitatory neurons, and that increases in microglial and endothelial cell expression are highly correlated with neuronal loss. All our analyses identified a strong involvement of the cerebellum in the neurodegenerative process of FTLD-TDP. Altogether, our data provides a detailed landscape of gene expression alterations to help unravel relevant disease mechanisms in FTLD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rahat Hasan
- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Ronald M. Loeb Center for Alzheimer's Disease, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences and Icahn Institute for Data Science and Genomic Technology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Estelle and Daniel Maggin Department of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jack Humphrey
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
- Ronald M. Loeb Center for Alzheimer's Disease, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences and Icahn Institute for Data Science and Genomic Technology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
- Estelle and Daniel Maggin Department of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Conceição Bettencourt
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, UK
- Queen Square Brain Bank for Neurological Disorders, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Jia Newcombe
- NeuroResource, Department of Neuroinflammation, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Tammaryn Lashley
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, UK
- Queen Square Brain Bank for Neurological Disorders, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Pietro Fratta
- Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Towfique Raj
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
- Ronald M. Loeb Center for Alzheimer's Disease, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences and Icahn Institute for Data Science and Genomic Technology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
- Estelle and Daniel Maggin Department of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
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19
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Hasan R, Humphrey J, Bettencourt C, Newcombe J, Lashley T, Fratta P, Raj T. Transcriptomic analysis of frontotemporal lobar degeneration with TDP-43 pathology reveals cellular alterations across multiple brain regions. Acta Neuropathol 2022; 143:383-401. [PMID: 34961893 PMCID: PMC10725322 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-021-02399-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2021] [Revised: 12/07/2021] [Accepted: 12/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) is a group of heterogeneous neurodegenerative disorders affecting the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. Nuclear loss and cytoplasmic aggregation of the RNA-binding protein TDP-43 represents the major FTLD pathology, known as FTLD-TDP. To date, there is no effective treatment for FTLD-TDP due to an incomplete understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying disease development. Here we compared postmortem tissue RNA-seq transcriptomes from the frontal cortex, temporal cortex, and cerebellum between 28 controls and 30 FTLD-TDP patients to profile changes in cell-type composition, gene expression and transcript usage. We observed downregulation of neuronal markers in all three regions of the brain, accompanied by upregulation of microglia, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes, as well as endothelial cells and pericytes, suggesting shifts in both immune activation and within the vasculature. We validate our estimates of neuronal loss using neuropathological atrophy scores and show that neuronal loss in the cortex can be mainly attributed to excitatory neurons, and that increases in microglial and endothelial cell expression are highly correlated with neuronal loss. All our analyses identified a strong involvement of the cerebellum in the neurodegenerative process of FTLD-TDP. Altogether, our data provides a detailed landscape of gene expression alterations to help unravel relevant disease mechanisms in FTLD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rahat Hasan
- Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Ronald M. Loeb Center for Alzheimer's Disease, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences and Icahn Institute for Data Science and Genomic Technology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Estelle and Daniel Maggin Department of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jack Humphrey
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
- Ronald M. Loeb Center for Alzheimer's Disease, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences and Icahn Institute for Data Science and Genomic Technology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
- Estelle and Daniel Maggin Department of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Conceição Bettencourt
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, UK
- Queen Square Brain Bank for Neurological Disorders, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Jia Newcombe
- NeuroResource, Department of Neuroinflammation, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Tammaryn Lashley
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, UK
- Queen Square Brain Bank for Neurological Disorders, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Pietro Fratta
- Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Towfique Raj
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
- Ronald M. Loeb Center for Alzheimer's Disease, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences and Icahn Institute for Data Science and Genomic Technology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
- Estelle and Daniel Maggin Department of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
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20
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Del Rosso G, Carlomagno Y, Todd TW, Jones CY, Prudencio M, Daughrity LM, Yue M, Jansen-West K, Tong J, Shao W, Wu Y, Castanedes-Casey M, Tabassian L, Oskarsson B, Ling K, Rigo F, Dickson DW, Yao TP, Petrucelli L, Cook CN, Zhang YJ. HDAC6 Interacts With Poly (GA) and Modulates its Accumulation in c9FTD/ALS. Front Cell Dev Biol 2022; 9:809942. [PMID: 35096836 PMCID: PMC8790530 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2021.809942] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2021] [Accepted: 12/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The aberrant translation of a repeat expansion in chromosome 9 open reading frame 72 (C9orf72), the most common cause of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), results in the accumulation of toxic dipeptide repeat (DPR) proteins in the central nervous system We have found that, among the sense DPR proteins, HDAC6 specifically interacts with the poly (GA) and co-localizes with inclusions in both patient tissue and a mouse model of this disease (c9FTD/ALS). Overexpression of HDAC6 increased poly (GA) levels in cultured cells independently of HDAC6 deacetylase activity, suggesting that HDAC6 can modulate poly (GA) pathology through a mechanism that depends upon their physical interaction. Moreover, decreasing HDAC6 expression by stereotaxic injection of antisense oligonucleotides significantly reduced the number of poly (GA) inclusions in c9FTD/ALS mice. These findings suggest that pharmacologically reducing HDAC6 levels could be of therapeutic value in c9FTD/ALS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Del Rosso
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States.,Neuroscience Graduate Program, Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | - Yari Carlomagno
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | - Tiffany W Todd
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | - Caroline Y Jones
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | - Mercedes Prudencio
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States.,Neuroscience Graduate Program, Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | | | - Mei Yue
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | - Karen Jansen-West
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | - Jimei Tong
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | - Wei Shao
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | - Yanwei Wu
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | | | - Lilia Tabassian
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | - Björn Oskarsson
- Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | - Karen Ling
- Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Carlsbad, CA, United States
| | - Frank Rigo
- Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Carlsbad, CA, United States
| | - Dennis W Dickson
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States.,Neuroscience Graduate Program, Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | - Tso-Pang Yao
- Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Leonard Petrucelli
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States.,Neuroscience Graduate Program, Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | - Casey N Cook
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States.,Neuroscience Graduate Program, Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Jacksonville, FL, United States
| | - Yong Jie Zhang
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, United States.,Neuroscience Graduate Program, Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Jacksonville, FL, United States
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21
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Fourier A, Quadrio I. Proteinopathies associated to repeat expansion disorders. J Neural Transm (Vienna) 2022; 129:173-185. [DOI: 10.1007/s00702-021-02454-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2021] [Accepted: 12/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
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22
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Cook CN, Wu Y, Odeh HM, Gendron TF, Jansen-West K, Del Rosso G, Yue M, Jiang P, Gomes E, Tong J, Daughrity LM, Avendano NM, Castanedes-Casey M, Shao W, Oskarsson B, Tomassy GS, McCampbell A, Rigo F, Dickson DW, Shorter J, Zhang YJ, Petrucelli L. C9orf72 poly(GR) aggregation induces TDP-43 proteinopathy. Sci Transl Med 2021; 12:12/559/eabb3774. [PMID: 32878979 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abb3774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 107] [Impact Index Per Article: 35.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2020] [Accepted: 06/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) inclusions are a pathological hallmark of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), including cases caused by G4C2 repeat expansions in the C9orf72 gene (c9FTD/ALS). Providing mechanistic insight into the link between C9orf72 mutations and TDP-43 pathology, we demonstrated that a glycine-arginine repeat protein [poly(GR)] translated from expanded G4C2 repeats was sufficient to promote aggregation of endogenous TDP-43. In particular, toxic poly(GR) proteins mediated sequestration of full-length TDP-43 in an RNA-independent manner to induce cytoplasmic TDP-43 inclusion formation. Moreover, in GFP-(GR)200 mice, poly(GR) caused the mislocalization of nucleocytoplasmic transport factors and nuclear pore complex proteins. These mislocalization events resulted in the aberrant accumulation of endogenous TDP-43 in the cytoplasm where it co-aggregated with poly(GR). Last, we demonstrated that treating G4C2 repeat-expressing mice with repeat-targeting antisense oligonucleotides lowered poly(GR) burden, which was accompanied by reduced TDP-43 pathology and neurodegeneration, including lowering of plasma neurofilament light (NFL) concentration. These results contribute to clarification of the mechanism by which poly(GR) drives TDP-43 proteinopathy, confirm that G4C2-targeted therapeutics reduce TDP-43 pathology in vivo, and demonstrate that alterations in plasma NFL provide insight into the therapeutic efficacy of disease-modifying treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Casey N Cook
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA.,Neurobiology of Disease Graduate Program, Mayo Graduate School, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN 55902, USA
| | - Yanwei Wu
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - Hana M Odeh
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Tania F Gendron
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA.,Neurobiology of Disease Graduate Program, Mayo Graduate School, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN 55902, USA
| | - Karen Jansen-West
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - Giulia Del Rosso
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - Mei Yue
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - Peizhou Jiang
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - Edward Gomes
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Jimei Tong
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | | | - Nicole M Avendano
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | | | - Wei Shao
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - Björn Oskarsson
- Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | | | | | - Frank Rigo
- Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Carlsbad, CA 92010, USA
| | - Dennis W Dickson
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA.,Neurobiology of Disease Graduate Program, Mayo Graduate School, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN 55902, USA
| | - James Shorter
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
| | - Yong-Jie Zhang
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA. .,Neurobiology of Disease Graduate Program, Mayo Graduate School, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN 55902, USA
| | - Leonard Petrucelli
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA. .,Neurobiology of Disease Graduate Program, Mayo Graduate School, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN 55902, USA
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23
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Chua JP, De Calbiac H, Kabashi E, Barmada SJ. Autophagy and ALS: mechanistic insights and therapeutic implications. Autophagy 2021; 18:254-282. [PMID: 34057020 PMCID: PMC8942428 DOI: 10.1080/15548627.2021.1926656] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Mechanisms of protein homeostasis are crucial for overseeing the clearance of misfolded and toxic proteins over the lifetime of an organism, thereby ensuring the health of neurons and other cells of the central nervous system. The highly conserved pathway of autophagy is particularly necessary for preventing and counteracting pathogenic insults that may lead to neurodegeneration. In line with this, mutations in genes that encode essential autophagy factors result in impaired autophagy and lead to neurodegenerative conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, the mechanistic details underlying the neuroprotective role of autophagy, neuronal resistance to autophagy induction, and the neuron-specific effects of autophagy-impairing mutations remain incompletely defined. Further, the manner and extent to which non-cell autonomous effects of autophagy dysfunction contribute to ALS pathogenesis are not fully understood. Here, we review the current understanding of the interplay between autophagy and ALS pathogenesis by providing an overview of critical steps in the autophagy pathway, with special focus on pivotal factors impaired by ALS-causing mutations, their physiologic effects on autophagy in disease models, and the cell type-specific mechanisms regulating autophagy in non-neuronal cells which, when impaired, can contribute to neurodegeneration. This review thereby provides a framework not only to guide further investigations of neuronal autophagy but also to refine therapeutic strategies for ALS and related neurodegenerative diseases.Abbreviations: ALS: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Atg: autophagy-related; CHMP2B: charged multivesicular body protein 2B; DPR: dipeptide repeat; FTD: frontotemporal dementia; iPSC: induced pluripotent stem cell; LIR: LC3-interacting region; MAP1LC3/LC3: microtubule associated protein 1 light chain 3; MTOR: mechanistic target of rapamycin kinase; PINK1: PTEN induced kinase 1; RNP: ribonuclear protein; sALS: sporadic ALS; SPHK1: sphingosine kinase 1; TARDBP/TDP-43: TAR DNA binding protein; TBK1: TANK-binding kinase 1; TFEB: transcription factor EB; ULK: unc-51 like autophagy activating kinase; UPR: unfolded protein response; UPS: ubiquitin-proteasome system; VCP: valosin containing protein.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason P Chua
- Department of Neurology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Hortense De Calbiac
- Recherche translationnelle sur les maladies neurologiques, Institut Imagine, UMR-1163 INSERM et Université Paris Descartes, Hôpital Universitaire Necker-Enfants Malades, Paris, France
| | - Edor Kabashi
- Recherche translationnelle sur les maladies neurologiques, Institut Imagine, UMR-1163 INSERM et Université Paris Descartes, Hôpital Universitaire Necker-Enfants Malades, Paris, France
| | - Sami J Barmada
- Department of Neurology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
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24
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DeJesus-Hernandez M, Aleff RA, Jackson JL, Finch NA, Baker MC, Gendron TF, Murray ME, McLaughlin IJ, Harting JR, Graff-Radford NR, Oskarsson B, Knopman DS, Josephs KA, Boeve BF, Petersen RC, Fryer JD, Petrucelli L, Dickson DW, Rademakers R, Ebbert MTW, Wieben ED, van Blitterswijk M. Long-read targeted sequencing uncovers clinicopathological associations for C9orf72-linked diseases. Brain 2021; 144:1082-1088. [PMID: 33889947 PMCID: PMC8105038 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awab006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2020] [Revised: 10/13/2020] [Accepted: 10/30/2020] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
To examine the length of a hexanucleotide expansion in C9orf72, which represents the most frequent genetic cause of frontotemporal lobar degeneration and motor neuron disease, we employed a targeted amplification-free long-read sequencing technology: No-Amp sequencing. In our cross-sectional study, we assessed cerebellar tissue from 28 well-characterized C9orf72 expansion carriers. We obtained 3507 on-target circular consensus sequencing reads, of which 814 bridged the C9orf72 repeat expansion (23%). Importantly, we observed a significant correlation between expansion sizes obtained using No-Amp sequencing and Southern blotting (P = 5.0 × 10-4). Interestingly, we also detected a significant survival advantage for individuals with smaller expansions (P = 0.004). Additionally, we uncovered that smaller expansions were significantly associated with higher levels of C9orf72 transcripts containing intron 1b (P = 0.003), poly(GP) proteins (P = 1.3 × 10- 5), and poly(GA) proteins (P = 0.005). Thorough examination of the composition of the expansion revealed that its GC content was extremely high (median: 100%) and that it was mainly composed of GGGGCC repeats (median: 96%), suggesting that expanded C9orf72 repeats are quite pure. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that No-Amp sequencing is a powerful tool that enables the discovery of relevant clinicopathological associations, highlighting the important role played by the cerebellar size of the expanded repeat in C9orf72-linked diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ross A Aleff
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA
| | - Jazmyne L Jackson
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - NiCole A Finch
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - Matthew C Baker
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - Tania F Gendron
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - Melissa E Murray
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - Ian J McLaughlin
- Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc., Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | - John R Harting
- Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc., Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA
| | | | - Björn Oskarsson
- Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - David S Knopman
- Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA
| | - Keith A Josephs
- Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA
| | - Bradley F Boeve
- Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA
| | | | - John D Fryer
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ 85259, USA
| | | | - Dennis W Dickson
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - Rosa Rademakers
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - Mark T W Ebbert
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - Eric D Wieben
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA
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25
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Solomon DA, Smikle R, Reid MJ, Mizielinska S. Altered Phase Separation and Cellular Impact in C9orf72-Linked ALS/FTD. Front Cell Neurosci 2021; 15:664151. [PMID: 33967699 PMCID: PMC8096919 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2021.664151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2021] [Accepted: 03/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Since the discovery of the C9orf72 repeat expansion mutation as causative for chromosome 9-linked amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in 2011, a multitude of cellular pathways have been implicated. However, evidence has also been accumulating for a key mechanism of cellular compartmentalization—phase separation. Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) is fundamental for the formation of membraneless organelles including stress granules, the nucleolus, Cajal bodies, nuclear speckles and the central channel of the nuclear pore. Evidence has now accumulated showing that the formation and function of these membraneless organelles is impaired by both the toxic arginine rich dipeptide repeat proteins (DPRs), translated from the C9orf72 repeat RNA transcript, and the repeat RNA itself. Both the arginine rich DPRs and repeat RNA themselves undergo phase separation and disrupt the physiological phase separation of proteins involved in the formation of these liquid-like organelles. Hence abnormal phase separation may explain a number of pathological cellular phenomena associated with C9orf72-ALS/FTD. In this review article, we will discuss the principles of phase separation, phase separation of the DPRs and repeat RNA themselves and how they perturb LLPS associated with membraneless organelles and the functional consequences of this. We will then discuss how phase separation may impact the major pathological feature of C9orf72-ALS/FTD, TDP-43 proteinopathy, and how LLPS may be targeted therapeutically in disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel A Solomon
- UK Dementia Research Institute at King's College London, London, United Kingdom.,Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Rebekah Smikle
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Matthew J Reid
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute, London, United Kingdom
| | - Sarah Mizielinska
- UK Dementia Research Institute at King's College London, London, United Kingdom.,Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute, London, United Kingdom
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Ghasemi M, Keyhanian K, Douthwright C. Glial Cell Dysfunction in C9orf72-Related Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Dementia. Cells 2021; 10:cells10020249. [PMID: 33525344 PMCID: PMC7912327 DOI: 10.3390/cells10020249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2020] [Revised: 01/14/2021] [Accepted: 01/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Since the discovery of the chromosome 9 open reading frame 72 (C9orf72) repeat expansion mutation in 2011 as the most common genetic abnormality in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), progress in understanding the signaling pathways related to this mutation can only be described as intriguing. Two major theories have been suggested-(i) loss of function or haploinsufficiency and (ii) toxic gain of function from either C9orf72 repeat RNA or dipeptide repeat proteins (DPRs) generated from repeat-associated non-ATG (RAN) translation. Each theory has provided various signaling pathways that potentially participate in the disease progression. Dysregulation of the immune system, particularly glial cell dysfunction (mainly microglia and astrocytes), is demonstrated to play a pivotal role in both loss and gain of function theories of C9orf72 pathogenesis. In this review, we discuss the pathogenic roles of glial cells in C9orf72 ALS/FTD as evidenced by pre-clinical and clinical studies showing the presence of gliosis in C9orf72 ALS/FTD, pathologic hallmarks in glial cells, including TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) and p62 aggregates, and toxicity of C9orf72 glial cells. A better understanding of these pathways can provide new insights into the development of therapies targeting glial cell abnormalities in C9orf72 ALS/FTD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mehdi Ghasemi
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +1-774-441-7726; Fax: +1-508-856-4485
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Ho R, Workman MJ, Mathkar P, Wu K, Kim KJ, O'Rourke JG, Kellogg M, Montel V, Banuelos MG, Arogundade OA, Diaz-Garcia S, Oheb D, Huang S, Khrebtukova I, Watson L, Ravits J, Taylor K, Baloh RH, Svendsen CN. Cross-Comparison of Human iPSC Motor Neuron Models of Familial and Sporadic ALS Reveals Early and Convergent Transcriptomic Disease Signatures. Cell Syst 2020; 12:159-175.e9. [PMID: 33382996 DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2020.10.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2020] [Revised: 08/10/2020] [Accepted: 11/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neural cultures from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients can model disease phenotypes. However, heterogeneity arising from genetic and experimental variability limits their utility, impacting reproducibility and the ability to track cellular origins of pathogenesis. Here, we present methodologies using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis to address these limitations. By repeatedly differentiating and applying scRNA-seq to motor neurons (MNs) from healthy, familial ALS, sporadic ALS, and genome-edited iPSC lines across multiple patients, batches, and platforms, we account for genetic and experimental variability toward identifying unified and reproducible ALS signatures. Combining HOX and developmental gene expression with global clustering, we anatomically classified cells into rostrocaudal, progenitor, and postmitotic identities. By relaxing statistical thresholds, we discovered genes in iPSC-MNs that were concordantly dysregulated in postmortem MNs and yielded predictive ALS markers in other human and mouse models. Our approach thus revealed early, convergent, and MN-resolved signatures of ALS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ritchie Ho
- Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA; Center for Neural Science and Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA; Department of Neurology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA; Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA.
| | - Michael J Workman
- Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
| | - Pranav Mathkar
- Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA; Center for Neural Science and Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
| | - Kathryn Wu
- Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
| | - Kevin J Kim
- Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
| | - Jacqueline G O'Rourke
- Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA; Center for Neural Science and Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
| | | | | | - Maria G Banuelos
- Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
| | | | - Sandra Diaz-Garcia
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Daniel Oheb
- Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
| | - Steven Huang
- Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
| | | | | | - John Ravits
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | | | - Robert H Baloh
- Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA; Center for Neural Science and Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA; Department of Neurology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
| | - Clive N Svendsen
- Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA.
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Gagliardi D, Costamagna G, Taiana M, Andreoli L, Biella F, Bersani M, Bresolin N, Comi GP, Corti S. Insights into disease mechanisms and potential therapeutics for C9orf72-related amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/frontotemporal dementia. Ageing Res Rev 2020; 64:101172. [PMID: 32971256 DOI: 10.1016/j.arr.2020.101172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2020] [Accepted: 08/31/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
In 2011, a hexanucleotide repeat expansion (HRE) in the noncoding region of C9orf72 was associated with the most frequent genetic cause of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The main pathogenic mechanisms in C9-ALS/FTD are haploinsufficiency of the C9orf72 protein and gain of function toxicity from bidirectionally-transcribed repeat-containing RNAs and dipeptide repeat proteins (DPRs) resulting from non-canonical RNA translation. Additionally, abnormalities in different downstream cellular mechanisms, such as nucleocytoplasmic transport and autophagy, play a role in pathogenesis. Substantial research efforts using in vitro and in vivo models have provided valuable insights into the contribution of each mechanism in disease pathogenesis. However, conflicting evidence exists, and a unifying theory still lacks. Here, we provide an overview of the recently published literature on clinical, neuropathological and molecular features of C9-ALS/FTD. We highlight the supposed neuronal role of C9orf72 and the HRE pathogenic cascade, mainly focusing on the contribution of RNA foci and DPRs to neurodegeneration and discussing the several downstream mechanisms. We summarize the emerging biochemical and neuroimaging biomarkers, as well as the potential therapeutic approaches. Despite promising results, a specific disease-modifying treatment is still not available to date and greater insights into disease mechanisms may help in this direction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Delia Gagliardi
- Dino Ferrari Centre, Neuroscience Section, Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation (DEPT), University of Milan, Via Francesco Sforza 35, 20122 Milan, Italy
| | - Gianluca Costamagna
- Dino Ferrari Centre, Neuroscience Section, Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation (DEPT), University of Milan, Via Francesco Sforza 35, 20122 Milan, Italy
| | - Michela Taiana
- Dino Ferrari Centre, Neuroscience Section, Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation (DEPT), University of Milan, Via Francesco Sforza 35, 20122 Milan, Italy
| | - Luca Andreoli
- Dino Ferrari Centre, Neuroscience Section, Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation (DEPT), University of Milan, Via Francesco Sforza 35, 20122 Milan, Italy
| | - Fabio Biella
- Dino Ferrari Centre, Neuroscience Section, Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation (DEPT), University of Milan, Via Francesco Sforza 35, 20122 Milan, Italy
| | - Margherita Bersani
- Dino Ferrari Centre, Neuroscience Section, Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation (DEPT), University of Milan, Via Francesco Sforza 35, 20122 Milan, Italy
| | - Nereo Bresolin
- Dino Ferrari Centre, Neuroscience Section, Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation (DEPT), University of Milan, Via Francesco Sforza 35, 20122 Milan, Italy; Neurology Unit, IRCCS Foundation Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Via Francesco Sforza 35, 20122, Milan, Italy
| | - Giacomo Pietro Comi
- Dino Ferrari Centre, Neuroscience Section, Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation (DEPT), University of Milan, Via Francesco Sforza 35, 20122 Milan, Italy; Neurology Unit, IRCCS Foundation Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Via Francesco Sforza 35, 20122, Milan, Italy
| | - Stefania Corti
- Dino Ferrari Centre, Neuroscience Section, Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation (DEPT), University of Milan, Via Francesco Sforza 35, 20122 Milan, Italy; Neurology Unit, IRCCS Foundation Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Via Francesco Sforza 35, 20122, Milan, Italy.
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29
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Soluble and insoluble dipeptide repeat protein measurements in C9orf72-frontotemporal dementia brains show regional differential solubility and correlation of poly-GR with clinical severity. Acta Neuropathol Commun 2020; 8:184. [PMID: 33168090 PMCID: PMC7650212 DOI: 10.1186/s40478-020-01036-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2020] [Accepted: 09/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
A C9orf72 repeat expansion is the most common genetic cause of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. One of the suggested pathomechanisms is toxicity from dipeptide repeat proteins (DPRs), which are generated via unconventional translation of sense and antisense repeat transcripts with poly-GA, poly-GP and poly-GR being the most abundant dipeptide proteins. Animal and cellular studies highlight a neurotoxic role of poly-GR and poly-PR and to a lesser degree of poly-GA. Human post-mortem studies in contrast have been much less clear on a potential role of DPR toxicity but have largely focused on immunohistochemical methods to detect aggregated DPR inclusions. This study uses protein fractionation and sensitive immunoassays to quantify not only insoluble but also soluble poly-GA, poly-GP and poly-GR concentrations in brain homogenates of FTD patients with C9orf72 mutation across four brain regions. We show that soluble DPRs are less abundant in clinically affected areas (i.e. frontal and temporal cortices). In contrast, the cerebellum not only shows the largest DPR load but also the highest relative DPR solubility. Finally, poly-GR levels and poly-GP solubility correlate with clinical severity. These findings provide the first cross-comparison of soluble and insoluble forms of all sense DPRs and shed light on the distribution and role of soluble DPRs in the etiopathogenesis of human C9orf72-FTD.
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30
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Ramesh N, Daley EL, Gleixner AM, Mann JR, Kour S, Mawrie D, Anderson EN, Kofler J, Donnelly CJ, Kiskinis E, Pandey UB. RNA dependent suppression of C9orf72 ALS/FTD associated neurodegeneration by Matrin-3. Acta Neuropathol Commun 2020; 8:177. [PMID: 33129345 PMCID: PMC7603783 DOI: 10.1186/s40478-020-01060-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2020] [Accepted: 10/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The most common genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a GGGGCC (G4C2) hexanucleotide repeat expansions in first intron of the C9orf72 gene. The accumulation of repetitive RNA sequences can mediate toxicity potentially through the formation of intranuclear RNA foci that sequester key RNA-binding proteins (RBPs), and non-ATG mediated translation into toxic dipeptide protein repeats. However, the contribution of RBP sequestration to the mechanisms underlying RNA-mediated toxicity remain unknown. Here we show that the ALS-associated RNA-binding protein, Matrin-3 (MATR3), colocalizes with G4C2 RNA foci in patient tissues as well as iPSC-derived motor neurons harboring the C9orf72 mutation. Hyperexpansion of C9 repeats perturbed subcellular distribution and levels of endogenous MATR3 in C9-ALS patient-derived motor neurons. Interestingly, we observed that ectopic expression of human MATR3 strongly mitigates G4C2-mediated neurodegeneration in vivo. MATR3-mediated suppression of C9 toxicity was dependent on the RNA-binding domain of MATR3. Importantly, we found that expression of MATR3 reduced the levels of RAN-translation products in mammalian cells in an RNA-dependent manner. Finally, we have shown that knocking down endogenous MATR3 in C9-ALS patient-derived iPSC neurons decreased the presence of G4C2 RNA foci in the nucleus. Overall, these studies suggest that MATR3 genetically modifies the neuropathological and the pathobiology of C9orf72 ALS through modulating the RNA foci and RAN translation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nandini Ramesh
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Department of Human Genetics, School of Public Health, School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Elizabeth L Daley
- The Ken & Ruth Davee Department of Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Amanda M Gleixner
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- LiveLikeLou Center for ALS Research, University of Pittsburgh Brain Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Jacob R Mann
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Sukhleen Kour
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Darilang Mawrie
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Eric N Anderson
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Julia Kofler
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Christopher J Donnelly
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- LiveLikeLou Center for ALS Research, University of Pittsburgh Brain Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Evangelos Kiskinis
- The Ken & Ruth Davee Department of Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
- Department of Physiology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
- Simpson Querrey Institute, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA
| | - Udai Bhan Pandey
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
- Department of Human Genetics, School of Public Health, School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
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Meyer SM, Williams CC, Akahori Y, Tanaka T, Aikawa H, Tong Y, Childs-Disney JL, Disney MD. Small molecule recognition of disease-relevant RNA structures. Chem Soc Rev 2020; 49:7167-7199. [PMID: 32975549 PMCID: PMC7717589 DOI: 10.1039/d0cs00560f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Targeting RNAs with small molecules represents a new frontier in drug discovery and development. The rich structural diversity of folded RNAs offers a nearly unlimited reservoir of targets for small molecules to bind, similar to small molecule occupancy of protein binding pockets, thus creating the potential to modulate human biology. Although the bacterial ribosome has historically been the most well exploited RNA target, advances in RNA sequencing technologies and a growing understanding of RNA structure have led to an explosion of interest in the direct targeting of human pathological RNAs. This review highlights recent advances in this area, with a focus on the design of small molecule probes that selectively engage structures within disease-causing RNAs, with micromolar to nanomolar affinity. Additionally, we explore emerging RNA-target strategies, such as bleomycin A5 conjugates and ribonuclease targeting chimeras (RIBOTACs), that allow for the targeted degradation of RNAs with impressive potency and selectivity. The compounds discussed in this review have proven efficacious in human cell lines, patient-derived cells, and pre-clinical animal models, with one compound currently undergoing a Phase II clinical trial and another that recently garnerd FDA-approval, indicating a bright future for targeted small molecule therapeutics that affect RNA function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha M Meyer
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, 130 Scripps Way, Jupiter, FL 33458, USA.
| | - Christopher C Williams
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, 130 Scripps Way, Jupiter, FL 33458, USA.
| | - Yoshihiro Akahori
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, 130 Scripps Way, Jupiter, FL 33458, USA.
| | - Toru Tanaka
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, 130 Scripps Way, Jupiter, FL 33458, USA.
| | - Haruo Aikawa
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, 130 Scripps Way, Jupiter, FL 33458, USA.
| | - Yuquan Tong
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, 130 Scripps Way, Jupiter, FL 33458, USA.
| | - Jessica L Childs-Disney
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, 130 Scripps Way, Jupiter, FL 33458, USA.
| | - Matthew D Disney
- Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, 130 Scripps Way, Jupiter, FL 33458, USA.
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32
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A Systematic Review of Genotype-Phenotype Correlation across Cohorts Having Causal Mutations of Different Genes in ALS. J Pers Med 2020; 10:jpm10030058. [PMID: 32610599 PMCID: PMC7564886 DOI: 10.3390/jpm10030058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2020] [Revised: 06/09/2020] [Accepted: 06/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disease characterised by progressive deterioration of upper and lower motor neurons that eventually culminates in severe muscle atrophy, respiratory failure and death. There is a concerning lack of understanding regarding the mechanisms that lead to the onset of ALS and as a result there are no reliable biomarkers that aid in the early detection of the disease nor is there an effective treatment. This review first considers the clinical phenotypes associated with ALS, and discusses the broad categorisation of ALS and ALS-mimic diseases into upper and lower motor neuron diseases, before focusing on the genetic aetiology of ALS and considering the potential relationship of mutations of different genes to variations in phenotype. For this purpose, a systematic review is conducted collating data from 107 original published clinical studies on monogenic forms of the disease, surveying the age and site of onset, disease duration and motor neuron involvement. The collected data highlight the complexity of the disease's genotype-phenotype relationship, and thus the need for a nuanced approach to the development of clinical assays and therapeutics.
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Jensen BK, Schuldi MH, McAvoy K, Russell KA, Boehringer A, Curran BM, Krishnamurthy K, Wen X, Westergard T, Ma L, Haeusler AR, Edbauer D, Pasinelli P, Trotti D. Synaptic dysfunction induced by glycine-alanine dipeptides in C9orf72-ALS/FTD is rescued by SV2 replenishment. EMBO Mol Med 2020; 12:e10722. [PMID: 32347002 PMCID: PMC7207170 DOI: 10.15252/emmm.201910722] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2019] [Revised: 03/23/2020] [Accepted: 03/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The most common cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is an intronic hexanucleotide repeat expansion in the C9orf72 gene. In disease, RNA transcripts containing this expanded region undergo repeat-associated non-AUG translation to produce dipeptide repeat proteins (DPRs), which are detected in brain and spinal cord of patients and are neurotoxic both in vitro and in vivo paradigms. We reveal here a novel pathogenic mechanism for the most abundantly detected DPR in ALS/FTD autopsy tissues, poly-glycine-alanine (GA). Previously, we showed motor dysfunction in a GA mouse model without loss of motor neurons. Here, we demonstrate that mobile GA aggregates are present within neurites, evoke a reduction in synaptic vesicle-associated protein 2 (SV2), and alter Ca2+ influx and synaptic vesicle release. These phenotypes could be corrected by restoring SV2 levels. In GA mice, loss of SV2 was observed without reduction of motor neuron number. Notably, reduction in SV2 was seen in cortical and motor neurons derived from patient induced pluripotent stem cell lines, suggesting synaptic alterations also occur in patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brigid K Jensen
- Jefferson Weinberg ALS CenterDepartment of NeuroscienceVickie and Jack Farber Institute for NeuroscienceThomas Jefferson UniversityPhiladelphiaPAUSA
| | - Martin H Schuldi
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE)MunichGermany
| | - Kevin McAvoy
- Jefferson Weinberg ALS CenterDepartment of NeuroscienceVickie and Jack Farber Institute for NeuroscienceThomas Jefferson UniversityPhiladelphiaPAUSA
| | - Katelyn A Russell
- Jefferson Weinberg ALS CenterDepartment of NeuroscienceVickie and Jack Farber Institute for NeuroscienceThomas Jefferson UniversityPhiladelphiaPAUSA
| | - Ashley Boehringer
- Jefferson Weinberg ALS CenterDepartment of NeuroscienceVickie and Jack Farber Institute for NeuroscienceThomas Jefferson UniversityPhiladelphiaPAUSA
| | - Bridget M Curran
- Department of NeuroscienceVickie and Jack Farber Institute for NeuroscienceThomas Jefferson UniversityPhiladelphiaPAUSA
| | - Karthik Krishnamurthy
- Jefferson Weinberg ALS CenterDepartment of NeuroscienceVickie and Jack Farber Institute for NeuroscienceThomas Jefferson UniversityPhiladelphiaPAUSA
| | - Xinmei Wen
- Jefferson Weinberg ALS CenterDepartment of NeuroscienceVickie and Jack Farber Institute for NeuroscienceThomas Jefferson UniversityPhiladelphiaPAUSA
| | - Thomas Westergard
- Jefferson Weinberg ALS CenterDepartment of NeuroscienceVickie and Jack Farber Institute for NeuroscienceThomas Jefferson UniversityPhiladelphiaPAUSA
| | - Le Ma
- Department of NeuroscienceVickie and Jack Farber Institute for NeuroscienceThomas Jefferson UniversityPhiladelphiaPAUSA
| | - Aaron R Haeusler
- Jefferson Weinberg ALS CenterDepartment of NeuroscienceVickie and Jack Farber Institute for NeuroscienceThomas Jefferson UniversityPhiladelphiaPAUSA
| | - Dieter Edbauer
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE)MunichGermany
| | - Piera Pasinelli
- Jefferson Weinberg ALS CenterDepartment of NeuroscienceVickie and Jack Farber Institute for NeuroscienceThomas Jefferson UniversityPhiladelphiaPAUSA
| | - Davide Trotti
- Jefferson Weinberg ALS CenterDepartment of NeuroscienceVickie and Jack Farber Institute for NeuroscienceThomas Jefferson UniversityPhiladelphiaPAUSA
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McEachin ZT, Gendron TF, Raj N, García-Murias M, Banerjee A, Purcell RH, Ward PJ, Todd TW, Merritt-Garza ME, Jansen-West K, Hales CM, García-Sobrino T, Quintáns B, Holler CJ, Taylor G, San Millán B, Teijeira S, Yamashita T, Ohkubo R, Boulis NM, Xu C, Wen Z, Streichenberger N, Fogel BL, Kukar T, Abe K, Dickson DW, Arias M, Glass JD, Jiang J, Tansey MG, Sobrido MJ, Petrucelli L, Rossoll W, Bassell GJ. Chimeric Peptide Species Contribute to Divergent Dipeptide Repeat Pathology in c9ALS/FTD and SCA36. Neuron 2020; 107:292-305.e6. [PMID: 32375063 PMCID: PMC8138626 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2020.04.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2019] [Revised: 03/11/2020] [Accepted: 04/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
GGGGCC hexanucleotide repeat expansions (HREs) in C9orf72 cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and lead to the production of aggregating dipeptide repeat proteins (DPRs) via repeat associated non-AUG (RAN) translation. Here, we show the similar intronic GGCCTG HREs that causes spinocerebellar ataxia type 36 (SCA36) is also translated into DPRs, including poly(GP) and poly(PR). We demonstrate that poly(GP) is more abundant in SCA36 compared to c9ALS/FTD patient tissue due to canonical AUG-mediated translation from intron-retained GGCCTG repeat RNAs. However, the frequency of the antisense RAN translation product poly(PR) is comparable between c9ALS/FTD and SCA36 patient samples. Interestingly, in SCA36 patient tissue, poly(GP) exists as a soluble species, and no TDP-43 pathology is present. We show that aggregate-prone chimeric DPR (cDPR) species underlie the divergent DPR pathology between c9ALS/FTD and SCA36. These findings reveal key differences in translation, solubility, and protein aggregation of DPRs between c9ALS/FTD and SCA36.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary T McEachin
- Department of Cell Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Laboratory for Translational Cell Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Wallace H. Coulter Graduate Program in Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology & Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA.
| | - Tania F Gendron
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA; Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - Nisha Raj
- Department of Cell Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Laboratory for Translational Cell Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - María García-Murias
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Santiago de Compostela, Spain; Neurogenetics Research Group, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria (IDIS), Hospital Clínico Universitario, SERGAS, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Anwesha Banerjee
- Department of Cell Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Ryan H Purcell
- Department of Cell Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Laboratory for Translational Cell Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Patricia J Ward
- Department of Cell Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Tiffany W Todd
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | | | - Karen Jansen-West
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - Chadwick M Hales
- Department of Neurology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Tania García-Sobrino
- Department of Neurology, Hospital Clínico Universitario, SERGAS, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Beatriz Quintáns
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Santiago de Compostela, Spain; Neurogenetics Research Group, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria (IDIS), Hospital Clínico Universitario, SERGAS, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Christopher J Holler
- Department of Pharmacology & Chemical Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Georgia Taylor
- Department of Pharmacology & Chemical Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Beatriz San Millán
- Rare Diseases and Pediatric Medicine Research Group, Galicia Sur Health Research Institute (IIS Galicia Sur), SERGAS-UVIGO, Vigo, Spain; Pathology Department, Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de Vigo (CHUVI), SERGAS, Vigo, Spain
| | - Susana Teijeira
- Rare Diseases and Pediatric Medicine Research Group, Galicia Sur Health Research Institute (IIS Galicia Sur), SERGAS-UVIGO, Vigo, Spain; Pathology Department, Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de Vigo (CHUVI), SERGAS, Vigo, Spain
| | - Toru Yamashita
- Department of Neurology, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan
| | - Ryuichi Ohkubo
- Department of Neurology, Fujimoto General Hospital, Miyazaki, Japan
| | - Nicholas M Boulis
- Department of Neurosurgery, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Chongchong Xu
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Zhexing Wen
- Department of Cell Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Laboratory for Translational Cell Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Department of Neurology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Nathalie Streichenberger
- Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France; Université Claude Bernard Lyon, Lyon, France; Institut NeuroMyogène CNRS UMR 5310
| | | | - Brent L Fogel
- Department of Neurology & Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Thomas Kukar
- Department of Neurology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Department of Pharmacology & Chemical Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Koji Abe
- Department of Neurology, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan
| | - Dennis W Dickson
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - Manuel Arias
- Neurogenetics Research Group, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria (IDIS), Hospital Clínico Universitario, SERGAS, Santiago de Compostela, Spain; Department of Neurology, Hospital Clínico Universitario, SERGAS, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Jonathan D Glass
- Department of Neurology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Jie Jiang
- Department of Cell Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Malú G Tansey
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32607, USA; Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Disease, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32607, USA; Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32607, USA
| | - María-Jesús Sobrido
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Santiago de Compostela, Spain; Neurogenetics Research Group, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria (IDIS), Hospital Clínico Universitario, SERGAS, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Leonard Petrucelli
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA; Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - Wilfried Rossoll
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA; Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - Gary J Bassell
- Department of Cell Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Laboratory for Translational Cell Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA; Wallace H. Coulter Graduate Program in Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology & Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA; Department of Neurology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
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Zhu Q, Jiang J, Gendron TF, McAlonis-Downes M, Jiang L, Taylor A, Diaz Garcia S, Ghosh Dastidar S, Rodriguez MJ, King P, Zhang Y, La Spada AR, Xu H, Petrucelli L, Ravits J, Da Cruz S, Lagier-Tourenne C, Cleveland DW. Reduced C9ORF72 function exacerbates gain of toxicity from ALS/FTD-causing repeat expansion in C9orf72. Nat Neurosci 2020; 23:615-624. [PMID: 32284607 PMCID: PMC7384305 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-020-0619-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 136] [Impact Index Per Article: 34.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2019] [Accepted: 02/28/2020] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Hexanucleotide expansions in C9orf72, which encodes a predicted guanine exchange factor, are the most frequent genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Although repeat expansion has been established to generate toxic products, mRNAs encoding the C9ORF72 protein are also reduced in affected individuals. In this study, we tested how C9ORF72 protein levels affected repeat-mediated toxicity. In somatic transgenic mice expressing 66 GGGGCC repeats, inactivation of one or both endogenous C9orf72 alleles provoked or accelerated, respectively, early death. In mice expressing a C9orf72 transgene with 450 repeats that did not encode the C9ORF72 protein, inactivation of one or both endogenous C9orf72 alleles exacerbated cognitive deficits, hippocampal neuron loss, glial activation and accumulation of dipeptide-repeat proteins from translation of repeat-containing RNAs. Reduced C9ORF72 was shown to suppress repeat-mediated elevation in autophagy. These efforts support a disease mechanism in ALS/FTD resulting from reduced C9ORF72, which can lead to autophagy deficits, synergizing with repeat-dependent gain of toxicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiang Zhu
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Jie Jiang
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Cell Biology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Tania F Gendron
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA
| | - Melissa McAlonis-Downes
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Lulin Jiang
- Neuroscience Initiative, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Amy Taylor
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Sandra Diaz Garcia
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Somasish Ghosh Dastidar
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Molecular Neuroscience; Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India
| | - Maria J Rodriguez
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Patrick King
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Yongjie Zhang
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA
| | - Albert R La Spada
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Departments of Neurology, Neurobiology, and Cell Biology, Duke Center for Neurodegeneration and Neurotherapeutics, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Huaxi Xu
- Neuroscience Initiative, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | | | - John Ravits
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Sandrine Da Cruz
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- VIB Center for Brain and Disease Research, Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Clotilde Lagier-Tourenne
- Department of Neurology, The Sean M. Healey and AMG Center for ALS at Mass General, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
- Broad Institute of Harvard University and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA.
| | - Don W Cleveland
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
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36
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Hayes LR, Duan L, Bowen K, Kalab P, Rothstein JD. C9orf72 arginine-rich dipeptide repeat proteins disrupt karyopherin-mediated nuclear import. eLife 2020; 9:e51685. [PMID: 32119645 PMCID: PMC7051184 DOI: 10.7554/elife.51685] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2019] [Accepted: 02/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Disruption of nucleocytoplasmic transport is increasingly implicated in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS caused by a C9orf72 hexanucleotide repeat expansion. However, the mechanism(s) remain unclear. Karyopherins, including importin β and its cargo adaptors, have been shown to co-precipitate with the C9orf72 arginine-containing dipeptide repeat proteins (R-DPRs), poly-glycine arginine (GR) and poly-proline arginine (PR), and are protective in genetic modifier screens. Here, we show that R-DPRs interact with importin β, disrupt its cargo loading, and inhibit nuclear import of importin β, importin α/β, and transportin cargoes in permeabilized mouse neurons and HeLa cells, in a manner that can be rescued by RNA. Although R-DPRs induce widespread protein aggregation in this in vitro system, transport disruption is not due to nucleocytoplasmic transport protein sequestration, nor blockade of the phenylalanine-glycine (FG)-rich nuclear pore complex. Our results support a model in which R-DPRs interfere with cargo loading on karyopherins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lindsey R Hayes
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of MedicineBaltimoreUnited States
- Brain Science Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of MedicineBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Lauren Duan
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Kelly Bowen
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of MedicineBaltimoreUnited States
- Brain Science Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of MedicineBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Petr Kalab
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Whiting School of Engineering, Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Jeffrey D Rothstein
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of MedicineBaltimoreUnited States
- Brain Science Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of MedicineBaltimoreUnited States
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37
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Andrade NS, Ramic M, Esanov R, Liu W, Rybin MJ, Gaidosh G, Abdallah A, Del’Olio S, Huff TC, Chee NT, Anatha S, Gendron TF, Wahlestedt C, Zhang Y, Benatar M, Mueller C, Zeier Z. Dipeptide repeat proteins inhibit homology-directed DNA double strand break repair in C9ORF72 ALS/FTD. Mol Neurodegener 2020; 15:13. [PMID: 32093728 PMCID: PMC7041170 DOI: 10.1186/s13024-020-00365-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2019] [Accepted: 02/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The C9ORF72 hexanucleotide repeat expansion is the most common known genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), two fatal age-related neurodegenerative diseases. The C9ORF72 expansion encodes five dipeptide repeat proteins (DPRs) that are produced through a non-canonical translation mechanism. Among the DPRs, proline-arginine (PR), glycine-arginine (GR), and glycine-alanine (GA) are the most neurotoxic and increase the frequency of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs). While the accumulation of these genotoxic lesions is increasingly recognized as a feature of disease, the mechanism(s) of DPR-mediated DNA damage are ill-defined and the effect of DPRs on the efficiency of each DNA DSB repair pathways has not been previously evaluated. METHODS AND RESULTS Using DNA DSB repair assays, we evaluated the efficiency of specific repair pathways, and found that PR, GR and GA decrease the efficiency of non-homologous end joining (NHEJ), single strand annealing (SSA), and microhomology-mediated end joining (MMEJ), but not homologous recombination (HR). We found that PR inhibits DNA DSB repair, in part, by binding to the nucleolar protein nucleophosmin (NPM1). Depletion of NPM1 inhibited NHEJ and SSA, suggesting that NPM1 loss-of-function in PR expressing cells leads to impediments of both non-homologous and homology-directed DNA DSB repair pathways. By deleting NPM1 sub-cellular localization signals, we found that PR binds NPM1 regardless of the cellular compartment to which NPM1 was directed. Deletion of the NPM1 acidic loop motif, known to engage other arginine-rich proteins, abrogated PR and NPM1 binding. Using confocal and super-resolution immunofluorescence microscopy, we found that levels of RAD52, a component of the SSA repair machinery, were significantly increased iPSC neurons relative to isogenic controls in which the C9ORF72 expansion had been deleted using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing. Western analysis of post-mortem brain tissues confirmed that RAD52 immunoreactivity is significantly increased in C9ALS/FTD samples as compared to controls. CONCLUSIONS Collectively, we characterized the inhibitory effects of DPRs on key DNA DSB repair pathways, identified NPM1 as a facilitator of DNA repair that is inhibited by PR, and revealed deficits in homology-directed DNA DSB repair pathways as a novel feature of C9ORF72-related disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadja S. Andrade
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Center for Therapeutic Innovation, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, 1501 NW 10th Ave, Biomedical Research Building Room 413, Florida, Miami 33136 USA
| | - Melina Ramic
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Center for Therapeutic Innovation, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, 1501 NW 10th Ave, Biomedical Research Building Room 413, Florida, Miami 33136 USA
| | - Rustam Esanov
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Center for Therapeutic Innovation, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, 1501 NW 10th Ave, Biomedical Research Building Room 413, Florida, Miami 33136 USA
| | - Wenjun Liu
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, 1600 NW 10th Ave, Miami, FL 33136 USA
| | - Mathew J. Rybin
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Center for Therapeutic Innovation, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, 1501 NW 10th Ave, Biomedical Research Building Room 413, Florida, Miami 33136 USA
| | - Gabriel Gaidosh
- John P Hussman Institute for Human Genomics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, 1501 NW 10th Ave, Miami, FL 33136 USA
- Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Biomedical Research Building, 1501 NW 10th Avenue, Miami, FL 33136 USA
| | - Abbas Abdallah
- Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worchester, MA USA
| | - Samuel Del’Olio
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Center for Therapeutic Innovation, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, 1501 NW 10th Ave, Biomedical Research Building Room 413, Florida, Miami 33136 USA
| | - Tyler C. Huff
- John P Hussman Institute for Human Genomics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, 1501 NW 10th Ave, Miami, FL 33136 USA
- Dr. John T Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, 1601 NW 12th Ave, Miami, FL. 33136 USA
| | - Nancy T. Chee
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Center for Therapeutic Innovation, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, 1501 NW 10th Ave, Biomedical Research Building Room 413, Florida, Miami 33136 USA
| | - Sadhana Anatha
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Center for Therapeutic Innovation, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, 1501 NW 10th Ave, Biomedical Research Building Room 413, Florida, Miami 33136 USA
| | - Tania F. Gendron
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Rd, Jacksonville, FL 32224 USA
| | - Claes Wahlestedt
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Center for Therapeutic Innovation, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, 1501 NW 10th Ave, Biomedical Research Building Room 413, Florida, Miami 33136 USA
| | - Yanbin Zhang
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, 1600 NW 10th Ave, Miami, FL 33136 USA
| | - Michael Benatar
- Department of Neurology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, 115 NW 14th St.,, Miami, FL 33136 USA
| | - Christian Mueller
- Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worchester, MA USA
- Department of Pediatrics and Horae Gene Therapy Center, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA USA
| | - Zane Zeier
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Center for Therapeutic Innovation, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, 1501 NW 10th Ave, Biomedical Research Building Room 413, Florida, Miami 33136 USA
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Swinnen B, Robberecht W, Van Den Bosch L. RNA toxicity in non-coding repeat expansion disorders. EMBO J 2020; 39:e101112. [PMID: 31721251 PMCID: PMC6939197 DOI: 10.15252/embj.2018101112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 113] [Impact Index Per Article: 28.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2018] [Revised: 09/30/2019] [Accepted: 10/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Several neurodegenerative disorders like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) are caused by non-coding nucleotide repeat expansions. Different pathogenic mechanisms may underlie these non-coding repeat expansion disorders. While gain-of-function mechanisms, such as toxicity associated with expression of repeat RNA or toxicity associated with repeat-associated non-ATG (RAN) products, are most frequently connected with these disorders, loss-of-function mechanisms have also been implicated. We review the different pathways that have been linked to non-coding repeat expansion disorders such as C9ORF72-linked ALS/frontotemporal dementia (FTD), myotonic dystrophy, fragile X tremor/ataxia syndrome (FXTAS), SCA, and Huntington's disease-like 2. We discuss modes of RNA toxicity focusing on the identity and the interacting partners of the toxic RNA species. Using the C9ORF72 ALS/FTD paradigm, we further explore the efforts and different methods used to disentangle RNA vs. RAN toxicity. Overall, we conclude that there is ample evidence for a role of RNA toxicity in non-coding repeat expansion diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bart Swinnen
- Department of NeurosciencesExperimental NeurologyLeuven Brain Institute (LBI)KU Leuven – University of LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Laboratory of NeurobiologyVIB, Center for Brain & Disease ResearchLeuvenBelgium
- Department of NeurologyUniversity Hospitals LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Wim Robberecht
- Department of NeurosciencesExperimental NeurologyLeuven Brain Institute (LBI)KU Leuven – University of LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Laboratory of NeurobiologyVIB, Center for Brain & Disease ResearchLeuvenBelgium
- Department of NeurologyUniversity Hospitals LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Ludo Van Den Bosch
- Department of NeurosciencesExperimental NeurologyLeuven Brain Institute (LBI)KU Leuven – University of LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
- Laboratory of NeurobiologyVIB, Center for Brain & Disease ResearchLeuvenBelgium
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Boeve B, Bove J, Brannelly P, Brushaber D, Coppola G, Dever R, Dheel C, Dickerson B, Dickinson S, Faber K, Fields J, Fong J, Foroud T, Forsberg L, Gavrilova R, Gearhart D, Ghoshal N, Goldman J, Graff-Radford J, Graff-Radford N, Grossman M, Haley D, Heuer H, Hsiung GYR, Huey E, Irwin D, Jones D, Jones L, Kantarci K, Karydas A, Knopman D, Kornak J, Kraft R, Kramer J, Kremers W, Kukull W, Lapid M, Lucente D, Mackenzie I, Manoochehri M, McGinnis S, Miller B, Pearlman R, Petrucelli L, Potter M, Rademakers R, Ramos EM, Rankin K, Rascovsky K, Sengdy P, Shaw L, Syrjanen J, Tatton N, Taylor J, Toga A, Trojanowski J, Weintraub S, Wong B, Wszolek Z, Boxer A, Rosen H. The longitudinal evaluation of familial frontotemporal dementia subjects protocol: Framework and methodology. Alzheimers Dement 2020; 16:22-36. [PMID: 31636026 PMCID: PMC6949411 DOI: 10.1016/j.jalz.2019.06.4947] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION It is important to establish the natural history of familial frontotemporal lobar degeneration (f-FTLD) and provide clinical and biomarker data for planning these studies, particularly in the asymptomatic phase. METHODS The Longitudinal Evaluation of Familial Frontotemporal Dementia Subjects protocol was designed to enroll and follow at least 300 subjects for more than at least three annual visits who are members of kindreds with a mutation in one of the three most common f-FTLD genes-microtubule-associated protein tau, progranulin, or chromosome 9 open reading frame 72. RESULTS We present the theoretical considerations of f-FTLD and the aims/objectives of this protocol. We also describe the design and methodology for evaluating and rating subjects, in which detailed clinical and neuropsychological assessments are performed, biofluid samples are collected, and magnetic resonance imaging scans are performed using a standard protocol. DISCUSSION These data and samples, which are available to interested investigators worldwide, will facilitate planning for upcoming disease-modifying therapeutic trials in f-FTLD.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jessica Bove
- University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Patrick Brannelly
- Tau Consortium, Rainwater Charitable Foundation, Fort Worth, TX, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Susan Dickinson
- Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, Radnor, PA, USA
| | - Kelley Faber
- National Cell Repository for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (NCRAD), Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | | | | | - Tatiana Foroud
- National Cell Repository for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (NCRAD), Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - David Irwin
- University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Walter Kukull
- National Alzheimer Coordinating Center (NACC), University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | | | - Ian Mackenzie
- University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Madeline Potter
- National Cell Repository for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (NCRAD), Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | | | | | | | | | - Pheth Sengdy
- University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Les Shaw
- University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | | | - Nadine Tatton
- Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, Radnor, PA, USA
| | | | - Arthur Toga
- Laboratory of Neuroimaging (LONI), USC, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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Nguyen L, Montrasio F, Pattamatta A, Tusi SK, Bardhi O, Meyer KD, Hayes L, Nakamura K, Banez-Coronel M, Coyne A, Guo S, Laboissonniere LA, Gu Y, Narayanan S, Smith B, Nitsch RM, Kankel MW, Rushe M, Rothstein J, Zu T, Grimm J, Ranum LPW. Antibody Therapy Targeting RAN Proteins Rescues C9 ALS/FTD Phenotypes in C9orf72 Mouse Model. Neuron 2019; 105:645-662.e11. [PMID: 31831332 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2019.11.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2019] [Revised: 10/10/2019] [Accepted: 11/05/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
The intronic C9orf72 G4C2 expansion, the most common genetic cause of ALS and FTD, produces sense- and antisense-expansion RNAs and six dipeptide repeat-associated, non-ATG (RAN) proteins, but their roles in disease are unclear. We generated high-affinity human antibodies targeting GA or GP RAN proteins. These antibodies cross the blood-brain barrier and co-localize with intracellular RAN aggregates in C9-ALS/FTD BAC mice. In cells, α-GA1 interacts with TRIM21, and α-GA1 treatment reduced GA levels, increased GA turnover, and decreased RAN toxicity and co-aggregation of proteasome and autophagy proteins to GA aggregates. In C9-BAC mice, α-GA1 reduced GA as well as GP and GR proteins, improved behavioral deficits, decreased neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration, and increased survival. Glycosylation of the Fc region of α-GA1 is important for cell entry and efficacy. These data demonstrate that RAN proteins drive C9-ALS/FTD in C9-BAC transgenic mice and establish a novel therapeutic approach for C9orf72 ALS/FTD and other RAN-protein diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lien Nguyen
- Center for NeuroGenetics, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Genetics Institute, McKnight Brain Institute, Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
| | | | - Amrutha Pattamatta
- Center for NeuroGenetics, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Genetics Institute, McKnight Brain Institute, Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
| | - Solaleh Khoramian Tusi
- Center for NeuroGenetics, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Genetics Institute, McKnight Brain Institute, Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
| | - Olgert Bardhi
- Center for NeuroGenetics, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Genetics Institute, McKnight Brain Institute, Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
| | - Kevin D Meyer
- Neurimmune AG, 8952 Schlieren, Switzerland; Institute for Regenerative Medicine-IREM, University of Zurich, 8952 Schlieren, Switzerland
| | - Lindsey Hayes
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Katsuya Nakamura
- Center for NeuroGenetics, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Genetics Institute, McKnight Brain Institute, Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
| | - Monica Banez-Coronel
- Center for NeuroGenetics, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Genetics Institute, McKnight Brain Institute, Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
| | - Alyssa Coyne
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Shu Guo
- Center for NeuroGenetics, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Genetics Institute, McKnight Brain Institute, Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
| | - Lauren A Laboissonniere
- Center for NeuroGenetics, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Genetics Institute, McKnight Brain Institute, Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
| | - Yuanzheng Gu
- Neuromuscular and Movement Disorders, Biogen, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | | | - Benjamin Smith
- Neuromuscular and Movement Disorders, Biogen, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Roger M Nitsch
- Neurimmune AG, 8952 Schlieren, Switzerland; Institute for Regenerative Medicine-IREM, University of Zurich, 8952 Schlieren, Switzerland
| | - Mark W Kankel
- Neuromuscular and Movement Disorders, Biogen, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Mia Rushe
- Neuromuscular and Movement Disorders, Biogen, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Jeffrey Rothstein
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Tao Zu
- Center for NeuroGenetics, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Genetics Institute, McKnight Brain Institute, Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
| | - Jan Grimm
- Neurimmune AG, 8952 Schlieren, Switzerland
| | - Laura P W Ranum
- Center for NeuroGenetics, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Genetics Institute, McKnight Brain Institute, Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.
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41
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Yuva-Aydemir Y, Almeida S, Krishnan G, Gendron TF, Gao FB. Transcription elongation factor AFF2/FMR2 regulates expression of expanded GGGGCC repeat-containing C9ORF72 allele in ALS/FTD. Nat Commun 2019; 10:5466. [PMID: 31784536 PMCID: PMC6884579 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-13477-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2019] [Accepted: 11/11/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Expanded GGGGCC (G4C2) repeats in C9ORF72 cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). How RNAs containing expanded G4C2 repeats are transcribed in human neurons is largely unknown. Here we describe a Drosophila model in which poly(GR) expression in adult neurons causes axonal and locomotor defects and premature death without apparent TDP-43 pathology. In an unbiased genetic screen, partial loss of Lilliputian (Lilli) activity strongly suppresses poly(GR) toxicity by specifically downregulating the transcription of GC-rich sequences in Drosophila. Knockout of AFF2/FMR2 (one of four mammalian homologues of Lilli) with CRISPR-Cas9 decreases the expression of the mutant C9ORF72 allele containing expanded G4C2 repeats and the levels of repeat RNA foci and dipeptide repeat proteins in cortical neurons derived from induced pluripotent stem cells of C9ORF72 patients, resulting in rescue of axonal degeneration and TDP-43 pathology. Thus, AFF2/FMR2 regulates the transcription and toxicity of expanded G4C2 repeats in human C9ORF72-ALS/FTD neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yeliz Yuva-Aydemir
- Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA
| | - Sandra Almeida
- Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA.
| | - Gopinath Krishnan
- Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA
| | - Tania F Gendron
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic Florida, Jacksonville, FL, 32224, USA
| | - Fen-Biao Gao
- Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605, USA.
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42
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Lai JD, Ichida JK. C9ORF72 protein function and immune dysregulation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Neurosci Lett 2019; 713:134523. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2019.134523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2019] [Revised: 09/24/2019] [Accepted: 09/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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Dickson DW, Baker MC, Jackson JL, DeJesus-Hernandez M, Finch NA, Tian S, Heckman MG, Pottier C, Gendron TF, Murray ME, Ren Y, Reddy JS, Graff-Radford NR, Boeve BF, Petersen RC, Knopman DS, Josephs KA, Petrucelli L, Oskarsson B, Sheppard JW, Asmann YW, Rademakers R, van Blitterswijk M. Extensive transcriptomic study emphasizes importance of vesicular transport in C9orf72 expansion carriers. Acta Neuropathol Commun 2019; 7:150. [PMID: 31594549 PMCID: PMC6781370 DOI: 10.1186/s40478-019-0797-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2019] [Accepted: 08/24/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The majority of the clinico-pathological variability observed in patients harboring a repeat expansion in the C9orf72-SMCR8 complex subunit (C9orf72) remains unexplained. This expansion, which represents the most common genetic cause of frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and motor neuron disease (MND), results in a loss of C9orf72 expression and the generation of RNA foci and dipeptide repeat (DPR) proteins. The C9orf72 protein itself plays a role in vesicular transport, serving as a guanine nucleotide exchange factor that regulates GTPases. To further elucidate the mechanisms underlying C9orf72-related diseases and to identify potential disease modifiers, we performed an extensive RNA sequencing study. We included individuals for whom frontal cortex tissue was available: FTLD and FTLD/MND patients with (n = 34) or without (n = 44) an expanded C9orf72 repeat as well as control subjects (n = 24). In total, 6706 genes were differentially expressed between these groups (false discovery rate [FDR] < 0.05). The top gene was C9orf72 (FDR = 1.41E-14), which was roughly two-fold lower in C9orf72 expansion carriers than in (disease) controls. Co-expression analysis revealed groups of correlated genes (modules) that were enriched for processes such as protein folding, RNA splicing, synaptic signaling, metabolism, and Golgi vesicle transport. Within our cohort of C9orf72 expansion carriers, machine learning uncovered interesting candidates associated with clinico-pathological features, including age at onset (vascular endothelial growth factor A [VEGFA]), C9orf72 expansion size (cyclin dependent kinase like 1 [CDKL1]), DPR protein levels (eukaryotic elongation factor 2 kinase [EEF2K]), and survival after onset (small G protein signaling modulator 3 [SGSM3]). Given the fact that we detected a module involved in vesicular transport in addition to a GTPase activator (SGSM3) as a potential modifier, our findings seem to suggest that the presence of a C9orf72 repeat expansion might hamper vesicular transport and that genes affecting this process may modify the phenotype of C9orf72-linked diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dennis W. Dickson
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL 32224 USA
| | - Matthew C. Baker
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL 32224 USA
| | - Jazmyne L. Jackson
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL 32224 USA
| | | | - NiCole A. Finch
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL 32224 USA
| | - Shulan Tian
- Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, 200 1st St SW, Rochester, MN 55905 USA
| | - Michael G. Heckman
- Division of Biomedical Statistics and Informatics, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL 32224 USA
| | - Cyril Pottier
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL 32224 USA
| | - Tania F. Gendron
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL 32224 USA
| | - Melissa E. Murray
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL 32224 USA
| | - Yingxue Ren
- Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL 32224 USA
| | - Joseph S. Reddy
- Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL 32224 USA
| | | | - Bradley F. Boeve
- Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, 200 1st St SW, Rochester, MN 55905 USA
| | - Ronald C. Petersen
- Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, 200 1st St SW, Rochester, MN 55905 USA
| | - David S. Knopman
- Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, 200 1st St SW, Rochester, MN 55905 USA
| | - Keith A. Josephs
- Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, 200 1st St SW, Rochester, MN 55905 USA
| | - Leonard Petrucelli
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL 32224 USA
| | - Björn Oskarsson
- Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL 32224 USA
| | - John W. Sheppard
- Gianforte School of Computing, Montana State University, 357 Barnard Hall, Bozeman, MT 59717 USA
| | - Yan W. Asmann
- Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL 32224 USA
| | - Rosa Rademakers
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL 32224 USA
| | - Marka van Blitterswijk
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL 32224 USA
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44
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Yamada SB, Gendron TF, Niccoli T, Genuth NR, Grosely R, Shi Y, Glaria I, Kramer NJ, Nakayama L, Fang S, Dinger TJI, Thoeng A, Rocha G, Barna M, Puglisi JD, Partridge L, Ichida JK, Isaacs AM, Petrucelli L, Gitler AD. RPS25 is required for efficient RAN translation of C9orf72 and other neurodegenerative disease-associated nucleotide repeats. Nat Neurosci 2019; 22:1383-1388. [PMID: 31358992 PMCID: PMC6713615 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-019-0455-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2018] [Accepted: 06/20/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Nucleotide repeat expansions in the C9orf72 gene are the most common cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia. Unconventional translation (RAN translation) of C9orf72 repeats generates dipeptide repeat proteins that can cause neurodegeneration. We performed a genetic screen for regulators of RAN translation and identified small ribosomal protein subunit 25 (RPS25), presenting a potential therapeutic target for C9orf72-related amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases caused by nucleotide repeat expansions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shizuka B Yamada
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Tania F Gendron
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, USA
| | - Teresa Niccoli
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK
- UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, Institute of Healthy Ageing, University College London, London, UK
| | - Naomi R Genuth
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Rosslyn Grosely
- Department of Structural Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Yingxiao Shi
- Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Idoia Glaria
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK
- UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Nicholas J Kramer
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
- Stanford Neurosciences Graduate Program, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Lisa Nakayama
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Shirleen Fang
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Tai J I Dinger
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Annora Thoeng
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK
- UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, Institute of Healthy Ageing, University College London, London, UK
| | - Gabriel Rocha
- Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Maria Barna
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
- Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Joseph D Puglisi
- Department of Structural Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Linda Partridge
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, Institute of Healthy Ageing, University College London, London, UK
| | - Justin K Ichida
- Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Adrian M Isaacs
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK
- UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | | | - Aaron D Gitler
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
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45
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Abstract
The discovery that repeat expansions in the C9orf72 gene are a frequent cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) has revolutionized our understanding of these diseases. Substantial headway has been made in characterizing C9orf72-mediated disease and unravelling its underlying aetiopathogenesis. Three main disease mechanisms have been proposed: loss of function of the C9orf72 protein and toxic gain of function from C9orf72 repeat RNA or from dipeptide repeat proteins produced by repeat-associated non-ATG translation. Several downstream processes across a range of cellular functions have also been implicated. In this article, we review the pathological and mechanistic features of C9orf72-associated FTD and ALS (collectively termed C9FTD/ALS), the model systems used to study these conditions, and the probable initiators of downstream disease mechanisms. We suggest that a combination of upstream mechanisms involving both loss and gain of function and downstream cellular pathways involving both cell-autonomous and non-cell-autonomous effects contributes to disease progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rubika Balendra
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK.,Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, Institute of Healthy Ageing, UCL, London, UK
| | - Adrian M Isaacs
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK. .,UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK.
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46
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Hao Z, Liu L, Tao Z, Wang R, Ren H, Sun H, Lin Z, Zhang Z, Mu C, Zhou J, Wang G. Motor dysfunction and neurodegeneration in a C9orf72 mouse line expressing poly-PR. Nat Commun 2019; 10:2906. [PMID: 31266945 PMCID: PMC6606620 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-10956-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2018] [Accepted: 06/12/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
A GGGGCC hexanucleotide repeat expansion in intron 1 of chromosome 9 open reading frame 72 (C9ORF72) gene is the most common genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia. Repeat-associated non-ATG translation of dipeptide repeat proteins (DPRs) contributes to the neuropathological features of c9FTD/ALS. Among the five DPRs, arginine-rich poly-PR are reported to be the most toxic. Here, we generate a transgenic mouse line that expresses poly-PR (GFP-PR28) specifically in neurons. GFP-PR28 homozygous mice show decreased survival time, while the heterozygous mice show motor imbalance, decreased brain weight, loss of Purkinje cells and lower motor neurons, and inflammation in the cerebellum and spinal cord. Transcriptional analysis shows that in the cerebellum, GFP-PR28 heterozygous mice show differential expression of genes related to synaptic transmission. Our findings show that GFP-PR28 transgenic mice partly model neuropathological features of c9FTD/ALS, and show a role for poly-PR in neurodegeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zongbing Hao
- Laboratory of Molecular Neuropathology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuropsychiatric Diseases & Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, China
| | - Liu Liu
- Laboratory of Molecular Neuropathology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuropsychiatric Diseases & Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, China
| | - Zhouteng Tao
- Center for Drug Safety Evaluation and Research, State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China
| | - Rui Wang
- Laboratory of Molecular Neuropathology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuropsychiatric Diseases & Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, China
| | - Haigang Ren
- Laboratory of Molecular Neuropathology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuropsychiatric Diseases & Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, China
| | - Hongyang Sun
- Laboratory of Molecular Neuropathology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuropsychiatric Diseases & Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, China
| | - Zixuan Lin
- Laboratory of Molecular Neuropathology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuropsychiatric Diseases & Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, China
| | - Zhixiong Zhang
- Laboratory of Molecular Neuropathology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuropsychiatric Diseases & Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, China
| | - Chenchen Mu
- Laboratory of Molecular Neuropathology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuropsychiatric Diseases & Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, China
| | - Jiawei Zhou
- Institute of Neuroscience, State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Brain Science, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200031, China
| | - Guanghui Wang
- Laboratory of Molecular Neuropathology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuropsychiatric Diseases & Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, 215123, China.
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47
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Moore S, Alsop E, Lorenzini I, Starr A, Rabichow BE, Mendez E, Levy JL, Burciu C, Reiman R, Chew J, Belzil VV, W. Dickson D, Robertson J, Staats KA, Ichida JK, Petrucelli L, Van Keuren-Jensen K, Sattler R. ADAR2 mislocalization and widespread RNA editing aberrations in C9orf72-mediated ALS/FTD. Acta Neuropathol 2019; 138:49-65. [PMID: 30945056 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-019-01999-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2018] [Revised: 03/28/2019] [Accepted: 03/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The hexanucleotide repeat expansion GGGGCC (G4C2)n in the C9orf72 gene is the most common genetic abnormality associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Recent findings suggest that dysfunction of nuclear-cytoplasmic trafficking could affect the transport of RNA binding proteins in C9orf72 ALS/FTD. Here, we provide evidence that the RNA editing enzyme adenosine deaminase acting on RNA 2 (ADAR2) is mislocalized in C9orf72 repeat expansion mediated ALS/FTD. ADAR2 is responsible for adenosine (A) to inosine (I) editing of double-stranded RNA, and its function has been shown to be essential for survival. Here we show the mislocalization of ADAR2 in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived motor neurons (hiPSC-MNs) from C9orf72 patients, in mice expressing (G4C2)149, and in C9orf72 ALS/FTD patient postmortem tissue. As a consequence of this mislocalization we observe alterations in RNA editing in our model systems and across multiple brain regions. Analysis of editing at 408,580 known RNA editing sites indicates that there are vast RNA A to I editing aberrations in C9orf72-mediated ALS/FTD. These RNA editing aberrations are found in many cellular pathways, such as the ALS pathway and the crucial EIF2 signaling pathway. Our findings suggest that the mislocalization of ADAR2 in C9orf72 mediated ALS/FTD is responsible for the alteration of RNA processing events that may impact vast cellular functions, including the integrated stress response (ISR) and protein translation.
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48
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Rodriguez CM, Todd PK. New pathologic mechanisms in nucleotide repeat expansion disorders. Neurobiol Dis 2019; 130:104515. [PMID: 31229686 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2019.104515] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2019] [Revised: 06/07/2019] [Accepted: 06/19/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Tandem microsatellite repeats are common throughout the human genome and intrinsically unstable, exhibiting expansions and contractions both somatically and across generations. Instability in a small subset of these repeats are currently linked to human disease, although recent findings suggest more disease-causing repeats await discovery. These nucleotide repeat expansion disorders (NREDs) primarily affect the nervous system and commonly lead to neurodegeneration through toxic protein gain-of-function, protein loss-of-function, and toxic RNA gain-of-function mechanisms. However, the lines between these categories have blurred with recent findings of unconventional Repeat Associated Non-AUG (RAN) translation from putatively non-coding regions of the genome. Here we review two emerging topics in NREDs: 1) The mechanisms by which RAN translation occurs and its role in disease pathogenesis and 2) How nucleotide repeats as RNA and translated proteins influence liquid-liquid phase separation, membraneless organelle dynamics, and nucleocytoplasmic transport. We examine these topics with a particular eye on two repeats: the CGG repeat expansion responsible for Fragile X syndrome and Fragile X-associated Tremor Ataxia Syndrome (FXTAS) and the intronic GGGGCC repeat expansion in C9orf72, the most common inherited cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Our thesis is that these emerging disease mechanisms can inform a broader understanding of the native roles of microsatellites in cellular function and that aberrations in these native processes provide clues to novel therapeutic strategies for these currently untreatable disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- C M Rodriguez
- Department of Neurology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - P K Todd
- Department of Neurology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
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49
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Molecular Mechanisms of Neurodegeneration Related to C9orf72 Hexanucleotide Repeat Expansion. Behav Neurol 2019; 2019:2909168. [PMID: 30774737 PMCID: PMC6350563 DOI: 10.1155/2019/2909168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2018] [Revised: 08/28/2018] [Accepted: 09/18/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Two clinically distinct diseases, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), have recently been classified as two extremes of the FTD/ALS spectrum. The neuropathological correlate of FTD is frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), characterized by tau-, TDP-43-, and FUS-immunoreactive neuronal inclusions. An earlier discovery that a hexanucleotide repeat expansion mutation in chromosome 9 open reading frame 72 (C9orf72) gene causes ALS and FTD established a special subtype of ALS and FTLD with TDP-43 pathology (C9FTD/ALS). Normal individuals carry 2–10 hexanucleotide GGGGCC repeats in the C9orf72 gene, while more than a few hundred repeats represent a risk for ALS and FTD. The proposed molecular mechanisms by which C9orf72 repeat expansions induce neurodegenerative changes are C9orf72 loss-of-function through haploinsufficiency, RNA toxic gain-of-function, and gain-of-function through the accumulation of toxic dipeptide repeat proteins. However, many more cellular processes are affected by pathological processes in C9FTD/ALS, including nucleocytoplasmic transport, RNA processing, normal function of nucleolus, formation of membraneless organelles, translation, ubiquitin proteasome system, Notch signalling pathway, granule transport, and normal function of TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43). Although the exact molecular mechanisms through which C9orf72 repeat expansions account for neurodegeneration have not been elucidated, some potential therapeutics, such as antisense oligonucleotides targeting hexanucleotide GGGGCC repeats in mRNA, were successful in preclinical trials and are awaiting phase 1 clinical trials. In this review, we critically discuss each proposed mechanism and provide insight into the most recent studies aiming to elucidate the molecular underpinnings of C9FTD/ALS.
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50
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Vatsavayai SC, Nana AL, Yokoyama JS, Seeley WW. C9orf72-FTD/ALS pathogenesis: evidence from human neuropathological studies. Acta Neuropathol 2019; 137:1-26. [PMID: 30368547 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-018-1921-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2018] [Revised: 10/16/2018] [Accepted: 10/16/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
What are the most important and treatable pathogenic mechanisms in C9orf72-FTD/ALS? Model-based efforts to address this question are forging ahead at a blistering pace, often with conflicting results. But what does the human neuropathological literature reveal? Here, we provide a critical review of the human studies to date, seeking to highlight key gaps or uncertainties in our knowledge. First, we engage the C9orf72-specific mechanisms, including C9orf72 haploinsufficiency, repeat RNA foci, and dipeptide repeat protein inclusions. We then turn to some of the most prominent C9orf72-associated features, such as TDP-43 loss-of-function, TDP-43 aggregation, and nuclear transport defects. Finally, we review potential disease-modifying epigenetic and genetic factors and the natural history of the disease across the lifespan. Throughout, we emphasize the importance of anatomical precision when studying how candidate mechanisms relate to neuronal, regional, and behavioral findings. We further highlight methodological approaches that may help address lingering knowledge gaps and uncertainties, as well as other logical next steps for the field. We conclude that anatomically oriented human neuropathological studies have a critical role to play in guiding this fast-moving field toward effective new therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarat C Vatsavayai
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, USA
| | - Alissa L Nana
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, USA
| | - Jennifer S Yokoyama
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, USA
| | - William W Seeley
- Memory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, USA.
- Department of Pathology, University of California, San Francisco, Box 1207, San Francisco, CA, 94143-1207, USA.
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