title: Pathogenic TARDBP mutations in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia: disease-associated pathways.
abstract: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are late-onset neurodegenerative disorders that are associated with mutations in the TARDBP gene. The product of this gene, TDP-43, has also been identified as the main component of the intracellular inclusions typical of most cases of ALS and FTD. Recent evidence suggests that TDP-43 is essential for proper development and involved in several fundamental cellular processes, including gene transcription, RNA processing, and the spatial regulation of mRNA translation. Pathogenic TARDBP mutations that impair TDP-43 function could therefore be related to neuronal degeneration in ALS and FTD. Conversely, cellular and animal studies have shown that pathogenic TARDBP mutations induce neuronal toxicity through mislocalization or elevated concentrations of TDP-43, consistent with a gain-of-function mechanism. In this review, we focus on the physiologic functions of TDP-43 within the central nervous system and discuss how these functions may be perturbed or pathologically altered by disease-associated mutations.
authors.affiliation: Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, University of California, San Francisco 94158, USA.
authors.forename: Sami J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Barmada
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Finkbeiner
mesh_terms: D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D057180:Frontotemporal Dementia / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger