Transposable elements in TDP-43-mediated neurodegenerative disorders. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • Elevated expression of specific transposable elements (TEs) has been observed in several neurodegenerative disorders. TEs also can be active during normal neurogenesis. By mining a series of deep sequencing datasets of protein-RNA interactions and of gene expression profiles, we uncovered extensive binding of TE transcripts to TDP-43, an RNA-binding protein central to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). Second, we find that association between TDP-43 and many of its TE targets is reduced in FTLD patients. Third, we discovered that a large fraction of the TEs to which TDP-43 binds become de-repressed in mouse TDP-43 disease models. We propose the hypothesis that TE mis-regulation contributes to TDP-43 related neurodegenerative diseases.

published proceedings

  • PLoS One

altmetric score

  • 45.19

author list (cited authors)

  • Li, W., Jin, Y., Prazak, L., Hammell, M., & Dubnau, J.

citation count

  • 140

complete list of authors

  • Li, Wanhe||Jin, Ying||Prazak, Lisa||Hammell, Molly||Dubnau, Josh

editor list (cited editors)

  • Iijima, K. M.

publication date

  • January 2012