Thomas J. Kwiatkowski

Mutations in the FUS/TLS gene on chromosome 16 cause familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal degenerative motor neuron disorder. Ten percent of cases are inherited; most involve unidentified genes. We report here 13 mutations in the fused in sarcoma/translated in liposarcoma (FUS/TLS) gene on chromosome 16 that were specific for familial ALS. The FUS/TLS protein binds to RNA, functions in diverse processes, and is normally located predominantly in the nucleus. In contrast, the mutant forms of FUS/TLS accumulated in the cytoplasm of neurons, a pathology that is similar to that of the gene TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP43), whose mutations also cause ALS. Neuronal cytoplasmic protein aggregation and defective RNA metabolism thus appear to be common pathogenic mechanisms involved in ALS and possibly in other neurodegenerative disorders.

A gene encoding a putative GTPase regulator is mutated in familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis 2

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis 2 (ALS2) is an autosomal recessive form of juvenile ALS and has been mapped to human chromosome 2q33. Here we report the identification of two independent deletion mutations linked to ALS2 in the coding exons of the new gene ALS2. These deletion mutations result in frameshifts that generate premature stop codons. ALS2 is expressed in various tissues and cells, including neurons throughout the brain and spinal cord, and encodes a protein containing multiple domains that have homology to RanGEF as well as RhoGEF. Deletion mutations are predicted to cause a loss of protein function, providing strong evidence that ALS2 is the causative gene underlying this form of ALS.

Identification and characterization of the gene causing type 1 spinocerebellar ataxia

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by expansion of a CAG trinucleotide repeat. In this study, we describe the identification and characterization of the gene harbouring this repeat. The SCA1 transcript is 10,660 bases and is transcribed from both the wild type and SCA1 alleles. The CAG repeat, coding for a polyglutamine tract, lies within the coding region. The gene spans 450 kb of genomic DNA and is organized in nine exons. The first seven fall in the 5′ untranslated region and the last two contain the coding region, and a 7,277 basepairs 3′ untranslated region. The first four non–coding exons undergo alternative splicing in several tissues. These features suggest that the transcriptional and translational regulation of ataxin–1, the SCA1 encoded protein, may be complex.

Mutant FUS proteins that cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis incorporate into stress granules

Mutations in the RNA-binding protein FUS (fused in sarcoma) are linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), but the mechanism by which these mutants cause motor neuron degeneration is not known. We report a novel ALS truncation mutant (R495X) that leads to a relatively severe ALS clinical phenotype compared with FUS missense mutations. Expression of R495X FUS, which abrogates a putative nuclear localization signal at the C-terminus of FUS, in HEK-293 cells and in the zebrafish spinal cord caused a striking cytoplasmic accumulation of the protein to a greater extent than that observed for recessive (H517Q) and dominant (R521G) missense mutants. Furthermore, in response to oxidative stress or heat shock conditions in cultures and in vivo, the ALS-linked FUS mutants, but not wild-type FUS, assembled into perinuclear stress granules in proportion to their cytoplasmic expression levels. These findings demonstrate a potential link between FUS mutations and cellular pathways involved in stress responses that may be relevant to altered motor neuron homeostasis in ALS.

Reduced expression of the Kinesin-Associated Protein 3 (KIFAP3) gene increases survival in sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a degenerative disorder of motor neurons that typically develops in the 6th decade and is uniformly fatal, usually within 5 years. To identify genetic variants associated with susceptibility and phenotypes in sporadic ALS, we performed a genome-wide SNP analysis in sporadic ALS cases and controls. A total of 288,357 SNPs were screened in a set of 1,821 sporadic ALS cases and 2,258 controls from the U.S. and Europe. Survival analysis was performed using 1,014 deceased sporadic cases. Top results for susceptibility were further screened in an independent sample set of 538 ALS cases and 556 controls. SNP rs1541160 within the KIFAP3 gene (encoding a kinesin-associated protein) yielded a genome-wide significant result (P = 1.84 × 10−8) that withstood Bonferroni correction for association with survival. Homozygosity for the favorable allele (CC) conferred a 14.0 months survival advantage. Sequence, genotypic and functional analyses revealed that there is linkage disequilibrium between rs1541160 and SNP rs522444 within the KIFAP3 promoter and that the favorable alleles of rs1541160 and rs522444 correlate with reduced KIFAP3 expression. No SNPs were associated with risk of sporadic ALS, site of onset, or age of onset. We have identified a variant within the KIFAP3 gene that is associated with decreased KIFAP3 expression and increased survival in sporadic ALS. These findings support the view that genetic factors modify phenotypes in this disease and that cellular motor proteins are determinants of motor neuron viability.

Analysis of FUS gene mutation in familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis within an Italian cohort.

Objective: Mutations in the FUS gene on chromosome 16 have been recently discovered as a cause of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS). This study determined the frequency and identities of FUS gene mutations in a cohort of Italian patients with FALS. Methods: We screened all 15 coding exons of FUS for mutations in 94 Italian patients with FALS. Results: We identified 4 distinct missense mutations in 5 patients; 2 were novel. The mutations were not present in 376 healthy Italian controls and thus are likely to be pathogenic. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that FUS mutations cause ∼4% of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis cases in the Italian population.

New VAPB deletion variant and exclusion of VAPB mutations in familial ALS

Objective: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive, neurodegenerative disorder involving upper and lower motor neurons. The vesicle-associated membrane protein B (VAPB) gene has been genetically linked to ALS in several large Brazilian families in which the disorder is caused by a proline to serine mutation at codon 56 (P56S). No additional mutations have been identified. Methods: To establish the prevalence of VAPB mutations, we screened 80 familial ALS samples by DNA sequencing. Results: Our study failed to identify any novel VAPB gene mutations but identified a single Brazilian family harboring the P56S mutation. In a second familial ALS case, we identified a three–base pair deletion within exon 5 of the VAPB gene that deleted the serine residue at position 160 (ΔS160). This variant is detected in a normal population at low frequency (0.45%). Analyses of homology alignment and secondary structure predict that this deletion significantly alters the structure of VAPB, although a GFP-ΔS160 VAPB fusion protein demonstrates a wild-type subcellular localization. This contrasts the aberrant localization observed in a GFP-P56S VAPB fusion protein. The allele frequency of ΔS160 in patients with sporadic ALS does not differ significantly from that in the normal population. Conclusions: Mutations in the VAPB gene are rare and the ΔS160 variant does not contribute to the development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Mapping and cloning of the critical region for the spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 gene (SCA1) in a yeast artificial chromosome contig spanning 1.2 Mb

The gene responsible for spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1) has been localized to a 6.7-cM region between the centromeric marker D6S109 and the telomeric marker D6S89. We screened two yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) libraries using sequence-tagged sites at D6S89 and at newly identified markers in 6p22-p23. Fifty YAC clones were identified and 34 insert termini were isolated from some of these YACs for detailed overlap mapping and long-range restriction analysis. A large YAC contig estimated to span 2.5 Mb was developed and genetic analysis in five large SCA1 kindreds using highly informative dinucleotide repeat polymorphisms mapped to this contig allowed the identification of D6S274 as the closest centromeric flanking marker for SCA1. Long-range restriction analysis determined the size for the critical SCA1 region, as defined by the two flanking markers D6S274 and D6S89, to be 1.2 Mb. This region is spanned by a minimum set of four nonchimeric YAC clones. The development of a 2.5-Mb YAC contig in 6p22-p23 provides valuable reagents for characterization of this genomic region and for the cloning of the SCA1 gene.