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Viral delivery of C9orf72 hexanucleotide repeat expansions in mice leads to repeat-length-dependent neuropathology and behavioural deficits

Herranz-Martin, S; Chandran, J; Lewis, K; Mulcahy, P; Higginbottom, A; Walker, C; Valenzuela, IM-PY; ... Azzouz, M; + view all (2017) Viral delivery of C9orf72 hexanucleotide repeat expansions in mice leads to repeat-length-dependent neuropathology and behavioural deficits. Disease Models & Mechanisms , 10 (7) pp. 859-868. 10.1242/dmm.029892. Green open access

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Abstract

Intronic GGGGCC repeat expansions in C9orf72 are the most common genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Two major pathologies stemming from the hexanucleotide RNA expansions (HREs) have been identified in postmortem tissue: intracellular RNA foci and repeat-associated non-ATG dependent (RAN) dipeptides, although it is unclear how these and other hallmarks of disease contribute to the pathophysiology of neuronal injury. Here, we describe two novel lines of mice that overexpress either 10 pure or 102 interrupted GGGGCC repeats mediated by adeno-associated virus (AAV) and recapitulate the relevant human pathology and disease-related behavioural phenotypes. Similar levels of intracellular RNA foci developed in both lines of mice, but only mice expressing 102 repeats generated C9orf72 RAN pathology, neuromuscular junction (NMJ) abnormalities, dispersal of the hippocampal CA1, enhanced apoptosis, and deficits in gait and cognition. Neither line of mice, however, showed extensive TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) pathology or neurodegeneration. Our data suggest that RNA foci pathology is not a good predictor of C9orf72 RAN dipeptide formation, and that RAN dipeptides and NMJ dysfunction are drivers of C9orf72 disease pathogenesis. These AAV-mediated models of C9orf72-associated ALS/FTD will be useful tools for studying disease pathophysiology and developing new therapeutic approaches.

Type: Article
Title: Viral delivery of C9orf72 hexanucleotide repeat expansions in mice leads to repeat-length-dependent neuropathology and behavioural deficits
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1242/dmm.029892
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/dmm.029892
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided that the original work is properly attributed.
Keywords: ALS/FTD, C9RAN aggregates, C9orf72, Mouse model, Neurodegeneration
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 Life Sciences
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1559522
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