Journal: bioRxiv
Article Title: Cryptic splicing in synaptic and membrane excitability genes links TDP-43 loss to neuronal dysfunction
doi: 10.1101/2025.08.28.672801
Figure Lengend Snippet: TDP-43 loss of function directly leads to cryptic splicing and reduced gene expression A. The levels of transcripts with cryptic exons in AKT3 , CACNA1E , CEP290 , KALRN , KCNQ2 , MNAT1 , RAP1GAP , SETD5 , STXBP5L , and SYT7 were increased upon TDP-43 knockdown. qPCR experiments were performed in iNeurons treated with TDP-43 shRNAs for seven days. The level of GAPDH was used for normalization. The level in control condition was set to 1. Mean ± s.e.m., n=3, unpaired t-test, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001, **** p<0.0001. B. The total transcript levels of AKT3 , CACNA1E , KALRN , KCNQ2 , RAP1GAP , SETD5 , and SYT7 were decreased upon TDP-43 knockdown while the total transcript level of STXBP5L was increased. qPCR experiments were performed in iNeurons treated with TDP-43 shRNAs for seven days. The level of GAPDH was used for normalization. The level in control condition was set to 1. Mean ± s.e.m., n=3, unpaired t-test, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001, **** p<0.0001. C. The total protein levels of UNC13A , KALRN , MNAT1 , RAP1GAP , and SYT7 were decreased upon TDP-43 knockdown. Western blotting experiments were performed in iNeurons treated with TDP-43 shRNAs for twelve days. The level of GAPDH or Tubulin was used for normalization. The level in control condition was set to 1. Mean ± s.e.m., n=3, unpaired t-test, *** p<0.001, **** p<0.0001. D. TDP-43 binding sites or UG-rich motifs were detected in the cryptic splicing region of KALRN , KCNQ2 , MNAT1 , RAP1GAP , SETD5 , and SYT7 . Lane 1, RNA-seq track of TDP-43 positive nuclei from FTD/ALS patient brain tissues; Lane 2, RNA-seq track of TDP-43 negative nuclei from FTD/ALS patient brain tissues; Lane 3, CLIP-seq track of TDP-43 in SH-SY5Y cells; Lane 4, percentage of UG (TG) or GU (GT) dinucleotides in 20bp bins, displayed as IGV tracks with a data range of 0.4–1; red rectangle, cryptic exon.
Article Snippet: Primary antibodies used in this study were: TDP-43 (Proteintech, 10782-2-AP), Tubulin (Cell Signaling Technology, 2144S), GAPDH (Sigma-Aldrich, G8795), UNC13A (Proteintech, 68483-1-Ig), KALRN (Proteintech, 19740-1-AP), RAP1GAP (Abcam, ab32373), SYT7 (Thermo Scientific, PA5-52998), MNAT1 (Proteintech, 11719-1-AP).
Techniques: Gene Expression, Knockdown, Control, Western Blot, Binding Assay, RNA Sequencing