Profiling nucleo/cytoplasmic distribution of mRNAs identifies a role for the Golgi-to-ER trafficking in C9orf72 toxicity
Compelling evidence indicates that defects in nucleocytoplasmic transport contribute to the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In particular, hexanucleotide (G4C2) repeat expansions in C9orf72, the most common cause of genetic ALS, have a widespread impact on the transport machinery that regulates the nucleocytoplasmic distribution of proteins and RNAs, thereby affecting their functions. We have previously reported that the expression of G4C2 hexanucleotide repeats in cultured human and mouse cells caused a marked accumulation of poly(A) mRNAs in cell nuclei, suggesting that mRNA trafficking is impaired by expanded C9orf72-ALS repeats. To further characterize the process, in this work we set out to systematically identify the specific mRNAs that are altered in their nucleocytoplasmic distribution in the presence of C9orf72-ALS repeats. Results from RNAseq profiling of nuclear and cytoplasmic RNA fractions obtained from cells expressing G4C231 repeats show a significant accumulation of mRNAs in the nuclei of G4C231 cells, further suggesting that nuclear retention of mRNAs is a major effect of C9orf72 expanded repeats expression. Interestingly, pathway analysis shows that mRNAs involved in ER-to-Golgi trafficking are particularly enriched among the identified mRNAs. Most importantly, functional studies in cultured cells and Drosophila indicate that the membrane trafficking route regulated by ARFGAP1, a GTPase-activating protein that associates with Golgi, is specifically affected by expanded C9orf72 repeats, as well as by C9orf72-related dipeptide repeat proteins (C9-DPRs), pointing to ER-to-Golgi vesicle-mediated transport as a target of C9orf72 toxicity. Overall design: Gene expression profiling analysis of nuclear and cytoplasmic fractions from HeLa cells expressing a mock plasmid (control) or an expanded (G4C2)31 RNA repeat. A total of n=12 samples from n=3 independent experiment were analysed by RNA seq: n=3 nuclear and n=3 cytoplasmic control samples; n=3 nuclear and n=3 cytoplasmic G4C2 samples.