Current Research and Scholarly Interests
We use the baker’s yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, as a model system to study the cell biology underpinning protein-misfolding diseases like Parkinson's disease and ALS. Since dealing with misfolded proteins is an ancient problem, we hypothesize that the mechanisms employed to cope with them are likely conserved from yeast to man. Our long-term goal is to identify the critical genes and cellular pathways affected by misfolded human disease proteins.
C9orf72 in ALS and FTD: Disease models and mechanisms
Mutations in the C9orf72 gene are the most common cause of ALS and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The mutation is a massive hexanucleotide repeat (GGGGCC) expansion in the intron of C9orf72. The mechanism by which C9orf72 mutations cause disease has remained unclear and of intense interest. In collaboration with the Petrucelli laboratory we have recently identified a way to selectively inhibit the expression of both sense and antisense mutant C9orf72 transcripts, which could offer therapeutic potential (Kramer et al., Science 2016).
New yeast models of neurodegenerative diseases
Encouraged by the power of the yeast system to gain insight into α-synuclein biology, we are creating new yeast models to study additional protein-misfolding disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease and ALS. We recently developed a yeast model to study the ALS disease protein TDP-43 (Johnson et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2008).
We have used yeast and in vitro biochemistry (in collaboration with Jim Shorter at PENN) to analyze the effects of ALS-linked TDP-43 mutations on aggregation and toxicity (Johnson et al., J Biol Chem 2009). We are now using these models to perform high-throughput genetic and small molecule screens to elucidate the molecular pathways that regulate the function of these disease proteins and control their conversion to a pathological conformation. We are currently analyzing hits from recent high-throughput screens that identified potent modifiers of TDP-43 toxicity. We are validating these hits in cell culture, animal models (mouse, fly, and zebrafish), and human patient samples.
These TDP-43 modifier screens are providing insight in two main ways:
1. The genes and pathways that are able to modify TDP-43 toxicity in yeast are now good candidates for evaluation as genetic contributors to ALS and related disorders in humans (e.g., see ataxin 2 below).
2. The yeast hits and their homologs are candidate therapeutic targets, especially gene deletions (Armakola et al., Nat Genet 2012; Kim et al., Nat Genet 2014).
Ataxin-2 and ALS
Interestingly, one of the hits from our yeast TDP-43 genetic modifier screen, PBP1, is the homolog of a human neurodegenerative disease protein, ataxin 2. We have validated this genetic interaction in the fly nervous system (in collaboration with Nancy Bonini at PENN), used biochemistry to show the proteins physically associate in an RNA-dependent manner.
We analyzed the ataxin 2 gene in 915 individuals with ALS and 980 healthy controls and found mutations in this gene as a common geneticrisk factor for ALS in humans. Long polyglutamine (polyQ) expansions (>34Q) in ataxin 2 cause spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2). We found intermediate-length polyQ expansions in ataxin 2 (27-33Q) significantly associated with increased risk for ALS (Elden et al., Nature 2010). A role for polyQ expansions in ataxin 2 in ALS and related diseases is being evaluated by us and others in independent patient populations worldwide. Click here for an updated summary of these results.
We found that lowering levels of ataxin 2 in mouse, either by knockout or with antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) can markedly extend survival and reduce pathology in TDP-43 transgenic mice (Becker et al., Nature 2017). We are extending these studies to additional mouse models and testing effects of ataxin 2 lowering in human cell models.
