Viral-mediated knockdown of Atxn2 attenuates TDP-43 pathology and muscle dysfunction in the PFN1C71G ALS mouse model
Abstract Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive motor neuron loss and muscle atrophy. Hyperphosphorylated aggregation of the RNA-binding protein, TDP-43, in the motor cortex and spinal cord are defining molecular features of ALS, sugges...
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BMC
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Acta Neuropathologica Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40478-025-02005-z |
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| author | Zachary C. E. Hawley Xueying Li Dora Bodnar Yuanzheng Gu Yi Luo Daniel Ferretti Adam Sheehy Rachelle Driscoll Maria I. Zavodszky Shaolong Cao Isabel Isaza Luke Jandreski Yuqing Liu Thomas Carlile Shih-Ching Lo Anna Grimard Shawn Bourque Aditya Utturkar Samantha Desmarais H. Moore Arnold Dann Huh Edward Guilmette Deborah Y. Kwon |
| author_facet | Zachary C. E. Hawley Xueying Li Dora Bodnar Yuanzheng Gu Yi Luo Daniel Ferretti Adam Sheehy Rachelle Driscoll Maria I. Zavodszky Shaolong Cao Isabel Isaza Luke Jandreski Yuqing Liu Thomas Carlile Shih-Ching Lo Anna Grimard Shawn Bourque Aditya Utturkar Samantha Desmarais H. Moore Arnold Dann Huh Edward Guilmette Deborah Y. Kwon |
| author_sort | Zachary C. E. Hawley |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive motor neuron loss and muscle atrophy. Hyperphosphorylated aggregation of the RNA-binding protein, TDP-43, in the motor cortex and spinal cord are defining molecular features of ALS, suggesting TDP-43 dysfunction underlies disease pathogenesis. This phenomenon, however, has been difficult to recapitulate endogenously in animal models, impeding characterization of TDP-43 pathobiology in neurodegeneration. In this study, we report age-dependent accumulation of TDP-43 pathology in the spinal cord and progressive muscle-related deficits in transgenic mice expressing the ALS-associated PFN1C71G mutant protein. We show that transgenic neuronal expression of PFN1C71G induces early hyperphosphorylation of endogenous TDP-43 in the spinal cord that augments over time, preceding accumulation of insoluble non-phosphorylated TDP-43 and the manifestation of muscle denervation and motor dysfunction. Sustained knockdown of Atxn2 in the central nervous system (CNS) in pre-symptomatic PFN1C71G mice by AAV-driven expression of an artificial microRNA (AAV-amiR-Atxn2) reduces aberrant TDP-43 in the spinal cord, while delaying neurodegeneration and improving muscle and motor function. RNA-sequencing analysis of spinal cord samples from PFN1C71G mice and ALS donors show shared patterns of transcriptional perturbation, including a pro-inflammatory gene signature that is attenuated by AAV-amiR-Atxn2. Notably, impaired regulation of the PFN1C71G skeletal muscle transcriptome exceeds that of the spinal cord and is also improved by Atxn2 reduction in the CNS. Lastly, we find significant gene co-expression network homology between PFN1C71G mice and human ALS, with shared dysregulation of modules related to neuroinflammation and neuronal function and uncover novel hub genes that provide biological insight into ALS and potential drug targets that can be further investigated in this mouse model. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-fa19f4fbede144cd8d59b1e1cd3df8a0 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2051-5960 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Acta Neuropathologica Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-fa19f4fbede144cd8d59b1e1cd3df8a02025-08-20T01:53:25ZengBMCActa Neuropathologica Communications2051-59602025-05-0113112210.1186/s40478-025-02005-zViral-mediated knockdown of Atxn2 attenuates TDP-43 pathology and muscle dysfunction in the PFN1C71G ALS mouse modelZachary C. E. Hawley0Xueying Li1Dora Bodnar2Yuanzheng Gu3Yi Luo4Daniel Ferretti5Adam Sheehy6Rachelle Driscoll7Maria I. Zavodszky8Shaolong Cao9Isabel Isaza10Luke Jandreski11Yuqing Liu12Thomas Carlile13Shih-Ching Lo14Anna Grimard15Shawn Bourque16Aditya Utturkar17Samantha Desmarais18H. Moore Arnold19Dann Huh20Edward Guilmette21Deborah Y. Kwon22BiogenBiogenBiogenBiogenBiogenBiogenBiogenBiogenBiogenBiogenBiogenBiogenBiogenBiogenBiogenBiogenBiogenBiogenBiogenBiogenBiogenBiogenBiogenAbstract Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive motor neuron loss and muscle atrophy. Hyperphosphorylated aggregation of the RNA-binding protein, TDP-43, in the motor cortex and spinal cord are defining molecular features of ALS, suggesting TDP-43 dysfunction underlies disease pathogenesis. This phenomenon, however, has been difficult to recapitulate endogenously in animal models, impeding characterization of TDP-43 pathobiology in neurodegeneration. In this study, we report age-dependent accumulation of TDP-43 pathology in the spinal cord and progressive muscle-related deficits in transgenic mice expressing the ALS-associated PFN1C71G mutant protein. We show that transgenic neuronal expression of PFN1C71G induces early hyperphosphorylation of endogenous TDP-43 in the spinal cord that augments over time, preceding accumulation of insoluble non-phosphorylated TDP-43 and the manifestation of muscle denervation and motor dysfunction. Sustained knockdown of Atxn2 in the central nervous system (CNS) in pre-symptomatic PFN1C71G mice by AAV-driven expression of an artificial microRNA (AAV-amiR-Atxn2) reduces aberrant TDP-43 in the spinal cord, while delaying neurodegeneration and improving muscle and motor function. RNA-sequencing analysis of spinal cord samples from PFN1C71G mice and ALS donors show shared patterns of transcriptional perturbation, including a pro-inflammatory gene signature that is attenuated by AAV-amiR-Atxn2. Notably, impaired regulation of the PFN1C71G skeletal muscle transcriptome exceeds that of the spinal cord and is also improved by Atxn2 reduction in the CNS. Lastly, we find significant gene co-expression network homology between PFN1C71G mice and human ALS, with shared dysregulation of modules related to neuroinflammation and neuronal function and uncover novel hub genes that provide biological insight into ALS and potential drug targets that can be further investigated in this mouse model.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40478-025-02005-z |
| spellingShingle | Zachary C. E. Hawley Xueying Li Dora Bodnar Yuanzheng Gu Yi Luo Daniel Ferretti Adam Sheehy Rachelle Driscoll Maria I. Zavodszky Shaolong Cao Isabel Isaza Luke Jandreski Yuqing Liu Thomas Carlile Shih-Ching Lo Anna Grimard Shawn Bourque Aditya Utturkar Samantha Desmarais H. Moore Arnold Dann Huh Edward Guilmette Deborah Y. Kwon Viral-mediated knockdown of Atxn2 attenuates TDP-43 pathology and muscle dysfunction in the PFN1C71G ALS mouse model Acta Neuropathologica Communications |
| title | Viral-mediated knockdown of Atxn2 attenuates TDP-43 pathology and muscle dysfunction in the PFN1C71G ALS mouse model |
| title_full | Viral-mediated knockdown of Atxn2 attenuates TDP-43 pathology and muscle dysfunction in the PFN1C71G ALS mouse model |
| title_fullStr | Viral-mediated knockdown of Atxn2 attenuates TDP-43 pathology and muscle dysfunction in the PFN1C71G ALS mouse model |
| title_full_unstemmed | Viral-mediated knockdown of Atxn2 attenuates TDP-43 pathology and muscle dysfunction in the PFN1C71G ALS mouse model |
| title_short | Viral-mediated knockdown of Atxn2 attenuates TDP-43 pathology and muscle dysfunction in the PFN1C71G ALS mouse model |
| title_sort | viral mediated knockdown of atxn2 attenuates tdp 43 pathology and muscle dysfunction in the pfn1c71g als mouse model |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40478-025-02005-z |
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