Abstract
Background The GGGGCC (G4C2) intronic repeat expansion within C9ORF72 is the most common genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) [1,2]. The mechanism by which the G4C2 intronic repeats cause neurodegeneration is unknown. Decreased tissue levels of the C9ORF72 transcript implicate a loss of protein function due to haploinsufficiency, intranuclear neuronal RNA foci have been observed in ALS and FTD tissues, suggesting that G4C2 RNA may be toxic [1].
Highlights
The GGGGCC (G4C2) intronic repeat expansion within C9ORF72 is the most common genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) [1,2]
By placing the repeats 3’ to EGFP we were able to monitor nuclear export and show that transfected neuroblastoma cells, but not HEK cells, declined in number over time due to apoptotic cell death. This was most marked in those showing the greatest nuclear retention and foci, indicating cell type and neuron-specific toxicity of longer G4C2 repeats
In order to explore the sequestration hypothesis we screened antibodies to 30 RNA binding proteins on 72x transfected neuroblastoma cells and demonstrated colocalization of G4C2 RNA foci with three proteins
Summary
The GGGGCC (G4C2) intronic repeat expansion within C9ORF72 is the most common genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) [1,2]. The mechanism by which the G4C2 intronic repeats cause neurodegeneration is unknown. Decreased tissue levels of the C9ORF72 transcript implicate a loss of protein function due to haploinsufficiency, intranuclear neuronal RNA foci have been observed in ALS and FTD tissues, suggesting that G4C2 RNA may be toxic [1]
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