Journal: Nature Aging
Article Title: The aging factor EPS8 induces disease-related protein aggregation through RAC signaling hyperactivation
doi: 10.1038/s43587-025-00943-w
Figure Lengend Snippet: a , Knockdown of usp-4 ameliorates mutant FUS aggregation in the neurons of day 5 adult C. elegans (detected by anti-FUS antibody). Right: SDS-PAGE with antibodies to FUS and α-tubulin. Graphs represent the relative percentage of aggregated and total FUS levels (corrected for α-tubulin) to WT FUS + Vector RNAi (mean ± s.e.m., n = 3 independent experiments). b , Knockdown of usp-4 decreases mutant TDP-43 M337V aggregation in day 5 adult worms (detected by anti-TDP-43 antibody). Right: SDS-PAGE with antibodies to TDP-43 and α-tubulin. Graphs represent the relative percentage of aggregated and total TDP-43 levels (corrected for α-tubulin) to TDP-43(WT) + Vector RNAi (mean ± s.e.m., n = 3 independent experiments). c , Percentage of nose touch responses/total trials in WT worms and transgenic worms expressing polyQ19 or polyQ67 in neurons (day 1 (D1): n = 40 worms per condition; D5: n = 80; D7: n = 80). d , Chemotaxis index of neuronal polyQ-expressing worms toward 0.5% benzaldehyde (mean ± s.e.m., n = 3 independent experiments; 56–215 worms were scored per condition for each independent experiment). e , Percentage of nose touch responses/total trials in WT worms and transgenic worms expressing WT FUS or ALS-related mutant FUS R522G and FUS P525L variants (D1: n = 40 worms per condition; D5: n = 80; D7: n = 80). f , Chemotaxis index of FUS-ALS worm models toward 0.5% benzaldehyde (mean ± s.e.m., n = 3 independent experiments; 78–150 worms were scored per condition for each independent experiment). g , Percentage of nose touch responses/total trials in WT worms and transgenic worms expressing WT TDP-43 or ALS-related mutant TDP-43 M337V variant (D1: n = 30 worms per condition; D5: n = 70; D7: n = 70). In c , e , g , the box plots represent the 25th–75th percentiles, the lines depict the median and the whiskers show the minimum–maximum values. h , Western blot with antibody to EPS-8 of day 10 adult worms on usp-4 knockdown. RNAi was initiated after development. Graph: relative percentage values of EPS-8 protein levels (corrected for α-tubulin) to Vector RNAi (mean ± s.e.m., n = 6 independent experiments). i , Knockdown of usp-4 after development prolongs lifespan in worms expressing WT EPS-8 ( P < 0.01) but not the short lifespan of Ub-less EPS-8 mutants ( P = 0.6798). EPS-8(WT) + Vector RNAi: 21.01 days ± 0.46, EPS-8(WT) + usp-4 RNAi: 23.27 ± 0.40, EPS-8(Ub-less) + Vector RNAi: 17.51 ± 0.55, EPS-8(Ub-less) + usp-4 RNAi: 18.24 ± 0.48. P values: two-sided log-rank test, n = 96 worms per condition. Supplementary Table contains statistical analysis and replicate data of independent lifespan experiments. j , Knockdown of usp-4 prevents polyQ67::YFP aggregation (detected by anti-GFP antibody) in worms expressing WT EPS-8 but not in worms expressing Ub-less EPS-8 mutant. Right: western blot with antibodies to GFP and α-tubulin. Graphs represent the relative percentage values of aggregated polyQ67 and total polyQ67 levels (corrected for α-tubulin loading control) to Q67;EPS-8(WT) + Vector RNAi (mean ± s.e.m., n = 3 independent experiments). In all the experiments, RNAi was initiated after development. Statistical comparisons were made by two-way ANOVA with Sidakʼs multiple comparisons test ( a , c , e – g ), two-way ANOVA with Fisher’s LSD test ( b , d , j ), two-tailed Wilcoxon signed-rank test ( h ) and two-sided log-rank test ( i ).
Article Snippet: For both filter trap and western blot analyses of C. elegans , immunoblotting was performed with antibodies against GFP (AMSBIO, TP401, dilution 1:5,000), FUS (Abcam, ab154141, clone CL0190, 1:1,000) and TDP-43 (Abcam, ab225710, 1:1,000).
Techniques: Knockdown, Mutagenesis, SDS Page, Plasmid Preparation, Transgenic Assay, Expressing, Chemotaxis Assay, Variant Assay, Western Blot, Control, Two Tailed Test