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Nuclear import receptors are recruited by FG-nucleoporins to rescue hallmarks of TDP-43 proteinopathy

Khalil, Bilal; Chhangani, Deepak; Wren, Melissa C; Smith, Courtney L; Lee, Jannifer H; Li, Xingli; Puttinger, Christian; ... Rossoll, Wilfried; + view all (2022) Nuclear import receptors are recruited by FG-nucleoporins to rescue hallmarks of TDP-43 proteinopathy. Molecular Neurodegeneration , 17 , Article 80. 10.1186/s13024-022-00585-1. Green open access

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Abstract

Background: Cytoplasmic mislocalization and aggregation of TAR DNA-binding protein-43 (TDP-43) is a hallmark of the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia (ALS/FTD) disease spectrum, causing both nuclear loss-of-function and cytoplasmic toxic gain-of-function phenotypes. While TDP-43 proteinopathy has been associated with defects in nucleocytoplasmic transport, this process is still poorly understood. Here we study the role of karyopherin-β1 (KPNB1) and other nuclear import receptors in regulating TDP-43 pathology. Methods: We used immunostaining, immunoprecipitation, biochemical and toxicity assays in cell lines, primary neuron and organotypic mouse brain slice cultures, to determine the impact of KPNB1 on the solubility, localization, and toxicity of pathological TDP-43 constructs. Postmortem patient brain and spinal cord tissue was stained to assess KPNB1 colocalization with TDP-43 inclusions. Turbidity assays were employed to study the dissolution and prevention of aggregation of recombinant TDP-43 fibrils in vitro. Fly models of TDP-43 proteinopathy were used to determine the effect of KPNB1 on their neurodegenerative phenotype in vivo. Results: We discovered that several members of the nuclear import receptor protein family can reduce the formation of pathological TDP-43 aggregates. Using KPNB1 as a model, we found that its activity depends on the prion-like C-terminal region of TDP-43, which mediates the co-aggregation with phenylalanine and glycine-rich nucleoporins (FG-Nups) such as Nup62. KPNB1 is recruited into these co-aggregates where it acts as a molecular chaperone that reverses aberrant phase transition of Nup62 and TDP-43. These findings are supported by the discovery that Nup62 and KPNB1 are also sequestered into pathological TDP-43 aggregates in ALS/FTD postmortem CNS tissue, and by the identification of the fly ortholog of KPNB1 as a strong protective modifier in Drosophila models of TDP-43 proteinopathy. Our results show that KPNB1 can rescue all hallmarks of TDP-43 pathology, by restoring its solubility and nuclear localization, and reducing neurodegeneration in cellular and animal models of ALS/FTD. Conclusion: Our findings suggest a novel NLS-independent mechanism where, analogous to its canonical role in dissolving the diffusion barrier formed by FG-Nups in the nuclear pore, KPNB1 is recruited into TDP-43/FG-Nup co-aggregates present in TDP-43 proteinopathies and therapeutically reverses their deleterious phase transition and mislocalization, mitigating neurodegeneration. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].

Type: Article
Title: Nuclear import receptors are recruited by FG-nucleoporins to rescue hallmarks of TDP-43 proteinopathy
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1186/s13024-022-00585-1
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13024-022-00585-1
Language: English
Additional information: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.
Keywords: Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Neurosciences, Neurosciences & Neurology, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Frontotemporal dementia, TDP-43, Nucleocytoplasmic transport, Importin, Nuclear pore, Aggregation, Prion-like domain, Drosophila, FRONTOTEMPORAL LOBAR DEGENERATION, PHASE-SEPARATION, NUCLEOCYTOPLASMIC TRANSPORT, PTDP-43 PATHOLOGY, BINDING, ALS, FUS, BETA, LOCALIZATION, TRANSITIONS
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology > UK Dementia Research Institute
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10167363
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