Nucleic Acids Research, 2019 1 doi: 10.1093/nar/gky1093 The neurodegenerative diseases ALS and SMA are linked at the molecular level via the ASC-1 complex Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/nar/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/nar/gky1093/5162471 by
[email protected] on 06 November 2018 Binkai Chi, Jeremy D. O’Connell, Alexander D. Iocolano, Jordan A. Coady, Yong Yu, Jaya Gangopadhyay, Steven P. Gygi and Robin Reed* Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, 240 Longwood Ave. Boston MA 02115, USA Received July 17, 2018; Revised October 16, 2018; Editorial Decision October 18, 2018; Accepted October 19, 2018 ABSTRACT Fused in Sarcoma (FUS) and TAR DNA Binding Protein (TARDBP) (9–13). FUS is one of the three members of Understanding the molecular pathways disrupted in the structurally related FET (FUS, EWSR1 and TAF15) motor neuron diseases is urgently needed. Here, we family of RNA/DNA binding proteins (14). In addition to employed CRISPR knockout (KO) to investigate the the RNA/DNA binding domains, the FET proteins also functions of four ALS-causative RNA/DNA binding contain low-complexity domains, and these domains are proteins (FUS, EWSR1, TAF15 and MATR3) within the thought to be involved in ALS pathogenesis (5,15). In light RNAP II/U1 snRNP machinery. We found that each of of the discovery that mutations in FUS are ALS-causative, these structurally related proteins has distinct roles several groups carried out studies to determine whether the with FUS KO resulting in loss of U1 snRNP and the other two members of the FET family, TATA-Box Bind- SMN complex, EWSR1 KO causing dissociation of ing Protein Associated Factor 15 (TAF15) and EWS RNA the tRNA ligase complex, and TAF15 KO resulting in Binding Protein 1 (EWSR1), have a role in ALS.