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HnRNP K mislocalisation is a novel protein pathology of frontotemporal lobar degeneration and ageing and leads to cryptic splicing
Acta Neuropathol. 2021 Jul 18. doi: 10.1007/s00401-021-02340-0.
Alexander Bampton # 1 2, Ariana Gatt # 1 2, Jack Humphrey # 3, Sara Cappelli 4, Dipanjan Bhattacharya 5, Sandrine Foti 1 2, Anna-Leigh Brown 6, Yasmine Asi 1 2, Yi Hua Low 1 2 7, Marco Foiani 5 8, Towfique Raj 3, Emanuele Buratti 4, Pietro Fratta # 9, Tammaryn Lashley # 10 11
Abstract:
Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins (HnRNPs) are a group of ubiquitously expressed RNA-binding proteins implicated in the regulation of all aspects of nucleic acid metabolism. HnRNP K is a member of this highly versatile hnRNP family. Pathological redistribution of hnRNP K to the cytoplasm has been linked to the pathogenesis of several malignancies but, until now, has been underexplored in the context of neurodegenerative disease. Here we show hnRNP K mislocalisation in pyramidal neurons of the frontal cortex to be a novel neuropathological feature that is associated with both frontotemporal lobar degeneration and ageing. HnRNP K mislocalisation is mutually exclusive to TDP-43 and tau pathological inclusions in neurons and was not observed to colocalise with mitochondrial, autophagosomal or stress granule markers. De-repression of cryptic exons in RNA targets following TDP-43 nuclear depletion is an emerging mechanism of potential neurotoxicity in frontotemporal lobar degeneration and the mechanistically overlapping disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. We silenced hnRNP K in neuronal cells to identify the transcriptomic consequences of hnRNP K nuclear depletion. Intriguingly, by performing RNA-seq analysis we find that depletion of hnRNP K induces 101 novel cryptic exon events. We validated cryptic exon inclusion in an SH-SY5Y hnRNP K knockdown and in FTLD brain exhibiting hnRNP K nuclear depletion. We, therefore, present evidence for hnRNP K mislocalisation to be associated with FTLD and for this to induce widespread changes in splicing.
PMID: 34274995
Free Full-Text: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00401-021-02340-0