Expression Profiling of Caenorabditis elegans tdp-1 loss-of-function mutant

Transactive response DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa (TDP-43), a heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) with diverse activities, is a common denominator in several neurodegenerative disorders including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). Orthologs of TDP-43 exist from mammals to invertebrates, but their functions in lower organisms remain poorly understood. Here we systematically studied mutant Caenorhabditis elegans lacking the nematode TDP-43 ortholog, TDP-1. To understand the global gene expression regulation induced by the loss of tdp-1, the C. elegans transcriptomes were compared between the N2 WT animals and the tdp-1(ok803lf) mutant. Transcriptional profiling demonstrated that the loss of TDP-1 altered expression of genes functioning in RNA processing and protein folding. These results suggest that the C. elegans TDP-1 as an RNA-processing protein may have a role in the regulation of protein homeostasis and aging.

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Zhang T, Hwang HY, Hao H, Talbot C Jr, Wang J