Scholarlink

<p>Autosomal dominant mutations in <i>TARDBP</i>, encoding TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43), cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and TDP-43 pathology is a hallmark of multiple aging-associated neurodegenerative diseases. Despite its pathological role, effective therapies remain limited by the lack of safe, potent molecules targeting TDP-43 neurotoxicity. Here we show that the conserved α-helical region spanning residues 320–340 (conserved region or CR) is a therapeutically actionable target for TDP-43 neurotoxicity. Deletion of CR markedly suppressed TDP-43-induced neuronal death. Structure-based virtual screening identified XL20, a brain-penetrant small molecule that engages CR and confers neuroprotection without affecting TDP-43 splicing activity. XL20 alleviated motor neuron loss, extended survival in TDP-43 p.Ala315Thr ALS mice and enhanced neuronal function in p.Gln331Lys induced pluripotent stem cell-derived human ALS motor neurons. Mechanistically, targeting CR suppressed TDP-43 mitochondrial localization and restored mitochondrial function, likely through liquid–liquid phase separation. Our findings highlight CR as a therapeutic target for TDP-43-associated neurodegeneration and support CR-binding small molecules as therapeutic candidates.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Therapeutic targeting of the conserved region within the low-complexity domain of TDP-43 is neuroprotective and extends survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis mice

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月3日

查看全文
  • Ju Gao,
  • Devanshi Shukla,
  • Mao Ding,
  • Siyue Qin,
  • Fan Tang,
  • Evelyn Guerrero,
  • Lauren Vicuna,
  • Jiawei Xu,
  • Hongling Li,
  • Masaru Miyagi,
  • Pan P. Li,
  • Jingjing Liang,
  • Xinglong Wang

摘要

Autosomal dominant mutations in TARDBP, encoding TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43), cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and TDP-43 pathology is a hallmark of multiple aging-associated neurodegenerative diseases. Despite its pathological role, effective therapies remain limited by the lack of safe, potent molecules targeting TDP-43 neurotoxicity. Here we show that the conserved α-helical region spanning residues 320–340 (conserved region or CR) is a therapeutically actionable target for TDP-43 neurotoxicity. Deletion of CR markedly suppressed TDP-43-induced neuronal death. Structure-based virtual screening identified XL20, a brain-penetrant small molecule that engages CR and confers neuroprotection without affecting TDP-43 splicing activity. XL20 alleviated motor neuron loss, extended survival in TDP-43 p.Ala315Thr ALS mice and enhanced neuronal function in p.Gln331Lys induced pluripotent stem cell-derived human ALS motor neurons. Mechanistically, targeting CR suppressed TDP-43 mitochondrial localization and restored mitochondrial function, likely through liquid–liquid phase separation. Our findings highlight CR as a therapeutic target for TDP-43-associated neurodegeneration and support CR-binding small molecules as therapeutic candidates.