Toxic gain of function from mutant FUS protein is crucial to trigger cell autonomous motor neuron loss - PubMed
- ️Fri Jan 01 2016
. 2016 May 17;35(10):1077-97.
doi: 10.15252/embj.201592559. Epub 2016 Mar 7.
Oliver Sendscheid 2 , Hajer El Oussini 1 , Mélanie Jambeau 3 , Ying Sun 3 , Sina Mersmann 2 , Marina Wagner 2 , Stéphane Dieterlé 1 , Jérome Sinniger 1 , Sylvie Dirrig-Grosch 1 , Kevin Drenner 3 , Marie-Christine Birling 4 , Jinsong Qiu 5 , Yu Zhou 5 , Hairi Li 5 , Xiang-Dong Fu 5 , Caroline Rouaux 1 , Tatyana Shelkovnikova 6 , Anke Witting 7 , Albert C Ludolph 7 , Friedemann Kiefer 8 , Erik Storkebaum 9 , Clotilde Lagier-Tourenne 10 , Luc Dupuis 11
Affiliations
- PMID: 26951610
- PMCID: PMC4868956
- DOI: 10.15252/embj.201592559
Toxic gain of function from mutant FUS protein is crucial to trigger cell autonomous motor neuron loss
Jelena Scekic-Zahirovic et al. EMBO J. 2016.
Abstract
FUS is an RNA-binding protein involved in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Cytoplasmic FUS-containing aggregates are often associated with concomitant loss of nuclear FUS Whether loss of nuclear FUS function, gain of a cytoplasmic function, or a combination of both lead to neurodegeneration remains elusive. To address this question, we generated knockin mice expressing mislocalized cytoplasmic FUS and complete FUS knockout mice. Both mouse models display similar perinatal lethality with respiratory insufficiency, reduced body weight and length, and largely similar alterations in gene expression and mRNA splicing patterns, indicating that mislocalized FUS results in loss of its normal function. However, FUS knockin mice, but not FUS knockout mice, display reduced motor neuron numbers at birth, associated with enhanced motor neuron apoptosis, which can be rescued by cell-specific CRE-mediated expression of wild-type FUS within motor neurons. Together, our findings indicate that cytoplasmic FUS mislocalization not only leads to nuclear loss of function, but also triggers motor neuron death through a toxic gain of function within motor neurons.
Keywords: FUS; PY‐NLS; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; frontotemporal dementia; motor neuron degeneration.
© 2016 The Authors. Published under the terms of the CC BY NC ND 4.0 license.
Figures

Upper panel: Scheme of the wild‐type
FUSprotein. The
NLS, encoded by exon 15, includes the C‐terminal amino acids (aa 507–526, boundaries shown by the two dashed lines). Middle panels: 11 frameshift mutations (upper middle panel) and 2 truncating mutations (lower middle panel) in the FUS gene have been identified in
ALSfamilies. The corresponding mutant
FUSproteins are shown. Insertions of abnormal polypeptide sequences induced by frameshift mutations are shown as red boxes. Lower panel: structure of
FUS∆
NLSprotein in Fus Δ
NLSmice.

Schematic representation of the Fus gene locus (upper panel). Lower panels depict exons 11–15 in the wild‐type allele (left) and ∆NLS allele (right) with localization of PCR primers used for genotyping (gDNA, used in B) and for RT–PCR (Total and ∆NLS, used in C). Arrow: translational start site. STOP cassettes are indicated in red; loxP sites as black triangles; coding regions are in dark blue and UTRs in light blue. Location of the region encoding the nuclear localization signal (NLS) is indicated in exon 15.
Representative PCR genotyping results from 2 Fus +/+, 2 Fus Δ NLS /+, and 2 Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS knockin mice using primers designed around the distal loxP site of the Fus Δ NLS allele and shown as gDNA in (A). The expected size of the PCR product of the ∆NLS allele is 240 bp; the size of wild‐type allele is 160 bp.
RT–PCR analysis of brain from 2 Fus +/+, 2 Fus Δ NLS /+, and 2 Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS knockin P0 mice using primers located in the STOP cassette, and thus specific to the ∆NLS mRNA (∆NLS, upper panel), or primers located in exon 11, that is, upstream of the floxed cDNA insertion, and thus amplifying total Fus‐derived mRNA (Total, middle panel). PCR amplification of 18S rRNA is shown as a standard gene (lower panel).
Immunoblot analysis of FUS protein in cerebral cortex of 2 Fus +/+, 2 Fus Δ NLS /+, and 2 Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS knockin mice using a combination of two different antibodies targeting either the C‐terminal (C‐ter. 1 and C‐ter. 2) NLS, the N‐terminal part (N‐ter. 1), or an internal part (N‐ter. 2) of FUS. Molecular weight markers are shown on the left, and apparent MW is indicated.
Double immunostaining for the motor neuronal marker ChAT and Fus (N‐terminal part) in the ventral horn of spinal cord.
Double immunostaining for nuclei (DAPI, blue) and Fus (N‐terminal part) in the cerebral cortex.
Source data are available online for this figure.

RT–PCR analysis of spinal cord and gastrocnemius muscle from 2 Fus +/+, 2 Fus Δ NLS /+, and 2 Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS P0 mice using primers located in the STOP cassette, and thus specific to the Fus ∆NLS mRNA (∆NLS, upper panel), or primers located in exon 11 and 12, that is, upstream of the floxed cDNA insertion, and thus amplifying total Fus mRNA (Total, lower panel).
Immunoblot analysis of FUS protein in spinal cord and gastrocnemius of 2 Fus +/+, 2 Fus Δ NLS /+, and 2 Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS mice using two different antibodies targeting the C‐terminal (C‐ter. 1 and C‐ter. 2) NLS or antibodies targeting the N‐terminal (N‐ter. 1) and internal parts (N‐ter. 2) of FUS.
Representative confocal images for fluorescence immunocytochemical localization of FUS protein in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs).

- A
Photographs of Fus +/+ and Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS pups immediately after birth (P0 animals).
- B, C
Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS mice showed significantly reduced body weight (B) and length (C). Weight and length values normalized to wild type (Fus +/+) are presented (mean ± SEM). N = 11 Fus +/+, N = 26 Fus Δ NLS /+ and N = 14 Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS; *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 versus Fus +/+, # P < 0.05 versus Fus ∆ NLS /+; one‐way ANOVA followed by Tukey's post hoc test.
- D
Representative hematoxylin and eosin stainings of lungs of Fus +/+ and Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS at birth.

- A
Schematic representation of the Fus gene locus (upper panel). Lower panels depict exons 1–3 in the wild‐type allele (left) and loss‐of‐function allele (right). Arrow: translational start site; SA: splice acceptor; βgeo: β‐galactosidase/neomycin phosphotransferase fusion gene; pA: polyA.
- B
Representative immunoblot for FUS on protein extracts of E18.5 brain. Histone 3 is used as a loading control.
- C
Quantification of FUS protein levels from immunoblots.
- D
Quantitative real‐time PCR for Fus transcript in Fus +/+ and Fus −/− mice. ND: not detected.
- E
Immunostaining for the neuronal marker NeuN and FUS on the spinal cord ventral horn of E18.5 Fus +/+ and Fus −/− mice.
- F, G
Body weight (F) and length (G) of Fus +/+, Fus +/−, and Fus −/− pups at birth; N = 14 Fus +/+, N = 36 Fus +/−, and N = 13 Fus −/− for body weight; N = 6 per genotype for body length.
Data information: Data represent mean ±
SEM. **P < 0.01 versus Fus +/+, ## P < 0.01 versus Fus +/−; one‐way
ANOVAfollowed by Tukey's post hoc test.Source data are available online for this figure.

Quantification of Fus RNA levels by strand‐specific RNA sequencing in brains from Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS (blue bars), Fus −/− (red bars), and control littermates (Fus +/+, black bars). RNA levels were determined by fragments per kilobase of transcript per million mapped reads (FPKM) value.
Unsupervised hierarchical cluster analysis using all RNAs expressed in brains of Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS mice (KI‐1 to KI‐5) and their control littermates (Ctrl‐1 to Ctrl‐4).
Unsupervised hierarchical cluster analysis using all RNAs expressed in brains of Fus −/− mice (KO‐1 to KO‐5) and their control littermates (Ctrl‐1 to Ctrl‐5).

RNA‐seq reads from brain of homozygous knockin (Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS, upper panel), homozygous knockout (Fus −/−, middle panel), and control (Fus +/+, lower panel) mice showing the absence of exon 15 (red arrow) in Fus mRNA in Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS mice, while the entire Fus transcript is absent in Fus −/− mice (green arrows).
Heat map with hierarchical clustering of RNA‐seq data from biological replicates of Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS (N = 5) and control littermates (N = 4), showing genes differentially regulated between both genotypes among which 237 are upregulated and 549 are downregulated in Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS animals as defined by P < 0.05 adjusted for multiple testing.
Heat map with hierarchical clustering of RNA‐seq data from biological replicates of Fus −/− (N = 5) and control littermates (N = 5), showing genes differentially regulated between both genotypes, among which 669 are upregulated and 889 are downregulated in Fus −/− animals as defined by P < 0.05 adjusted for multiple testing.
Venn diagram showing the number of overlapping genes misregulated in Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS (blue circle) and Fus −/− (red circle) brains with 353 genes similarly downregulated or upregulated upon cytoplasmic mislocalization or complete loss of FUS.
Normalized expression (based on FPKM from RNA‐seq) of genes identified by RNA‐seq to be significantly downregulated (Ahi1, Kcnip1, Nefm, Nefl, Tuba4a, Dmpk, Rad9b, Stac3, Hist1h2bc, Hist1h1c) or upregulated (Fam193b, Pmm2, Bphl, Taf15) in both Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS and Fus −/− compared to their control. Error bars represent SEM in 4‐5 biological replicates. **P < 0.01, two‐tailed student's t‐test.
Normalized expression (based on FPKM from RNA‐seq) of genes identified by RNA‐seq to be uniquely changed in Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS mice (Trove2, Uhmk1, Ssh3, Vtn, Snrpb, Ephb3). Error bars represent SEM in 4–5 biological replicates. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, two‐tailed Student's t‐test.

Schematic representation of the RASL‐seq strategy to measure ratios of alternative splicing isoforms from thousands of selected splicing events by high‐throughput sequencing.
Unsupervised hierarchical cluster analysis using all splicing events sequenced in brains of Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS mice (KI‐1 to KI‐4), Fus Δ NLS /+ (HET‐1 to HET‐4), and their control littermates (Ctrl‐1 to Ctrl‐4).
Unsupervised hierarchical cluster analysis using all splicing events sequenced in brains of Fus −/− mice (KO‐1 to KO‐5) and their control littermates (Ctrl‐1 to Ctrl‐5).
Venn diagram showing the number of overlapping splicing events that are misregulated in Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS (blue circle) and Fus −/− (red circle) brains with 75 exons similarly altered upon cytoplasmic mislocalization or complete loss of FUS.
Heat map using the fold changes of the 75 splicing events commonly regulated in Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS and Fus −/− mice showing that 100% of the events were differentially included or excluded in the same direction.
Semi‐quantitative RT–PCR analyses of selected targets shown in Fig 5C with alternatively spliced exons depicted in orange boxes with their flanking constitutive exons in blue boxes.

Heat map with hierarchical clustering of RASL‐seq data from biological replicates of Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS (N = 4) and control littermates (N = 4), showing 173 alternative splicing alterations associated with expression of cytoplasmic FUS in knockin animals.
Heat map with hierarchical clustering of RASL‐seq data from biological replicates of Fus −/− (N = 5) and control littermates (N = 5), showing 252 alternative splicing alterations associated with loss of FUS in knockout animals.
Semi‐quantitative RT–PCR analyses of selected targets. Left panels show representative acrylamide gel pictures of RT–PCR products. Quantification of splicing changes from at least three biological replicates of Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS (blue bars) and Fus −/− (red bars) compared to their control littermates (Fus +/+, black bars) by semi‐quantitative RT–PCR (middle panel) and RASL‐seq (right panel) are shown. Error bars represent SEM. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, two‐tailed Student's t‐test.

- A
Representative light microscopy images of spinal cord sections of Fus +/+, Fus Δ NLS /+, Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS, and Fus −/− mice at birth stained with cresyl violet (Nissl, A1, A3 A5, A7), or anti‐choline acetyltransferase (ChAT, A2, A4 A6, A8).
- B, C
Quantification of ChAT + motor neurons (B) and Nissl+ motor neurons (defined as Nissl‐positive cells with a soma area > 80 µm2) (C) per spinal cord ventral horn in Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS mice (mean ± SEM). For Nissl+ N = 8 Fus +/+, N = 5 Fus Δ NLS /+, N = 7 Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS, and for ChAT + N = 7 per genotype, **P < 0.01 versus Fus +/+, ## P < 0.01 versus Fus ∆ NLS /+; one‐way ANOVA followed by Tukey's post hoc test.
- D, E
Quantification of ChAT + (D) and Nissl+ (E) motor neurons per spinal cord ventral horn in Fus −/− mice (mean ± SEM). N = 6 per genotype, no significant differences were found, by Student's unpaired t‐test.

- A
Representative images of TUNEL assay in spinal cord of Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS mice (A4‐A6) and Fus +/+ mice (A1‐A3).
- B
Quantification of the total number of TUNEL and DRAQ5 (blue) double‐positive cells in Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS and Fus +/+ per spinal cord section. Mean ± SEM, N = 3 per genotype, *P < 0.05, by Student's unpaired t‐test.
- C, D
Immunofluorescence microscopy of spinal cord of Fus +/+ (C) and Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS (D) mice showing active caspase‐3 (green), ChAT (red), and DNA (cyan, DRAQ5).
- E
Quantification of caspase‐3 (Cas3)/ChAT/DRAQ5 triple‐positive cells in Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS mice. Mean ± SEM, N = 7 per genotype, **P < 0.01, by Student's unpaired t‐test.

Representative images of SMN (green) immunofluorescence in spinal cord. Nuclear gems, corresponding to SMN‐immunoreactive foci in nuclei, are marked by arrows.
HDAC1 immunoreactivity in spinal cord sections of Fus +/+ and Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS mice. Arrows point to HDAC1‐immunoreactive nuclear foci.
Representative images of immunofluorescence staining of motor neurons, labeled with ChAT (red) and HDAC1 (green). Examples of HDAC1 immunoreactive foci in motor neurons are indicated by arrows.
Representative images of immunofluorescence staining of motor neurons labeled with ChAT (red) and phosphorylated eIF2α (green), a general translational stress response marker. DRAQ5 (cyan) was used to label nuclei.

Representative images of ubiquitin staining (green) in the ventral spinal cord.
Representative images of immunofluorescence staining of neurofilament heavy chain (green) and poly‐ubiquitin (lysine 48; red). The neurofilament immunostaining shows normal filamentous staining, and the poly‐ubiquitin staining is very weak and shows no positive aggregates.
Representative images of immunofluorescence staining of neurons labeled with NeuN (green) and TIAR (red), a stress granule marker.

- A
Double immunolabeling of spinal cord neurons with ChAT (red) and N‐terminal FUS antibody (green). Nuclei were visualized with DRAQ5 (blue). Cellular localization of FUS was analyzed in the ventral spinal cord of Fus +/+/ChAT‐CRE (A1‐A4), Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS/− (A5‐A8), and Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS/ChAT‐CRE (A9‐A12). FUS was completely nuclear in ChAT + neurons of Fus +/+/ChAT‐CRE, while cytoplasmic in Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS/−. In the ventral horn of Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS/ChAT‐CRE mice, ChAT + neurons (motor neurons, e.g., within the dashed square) displayed nuclear FUS immunoreactivity, while ChAT‐negative cells retained cytoplasmic FUS immunoreactivity (arrows).
- B
Representative light microscopy images of spinal cord sections of Fus +/+/ChAT‐CRE (B1, B4), Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS/− (B2, B5), and Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS/ChAT‐CRE (B3, B6) mice at birth stained with cresyl violet (Nissl, B1‐B3) or anti‐choline acetyltransferase (ChAT, B4‐B6).
- C, D
Quantification of Nissl+ (C) and ChAT + (D) motor neurons per spinal cord ventral horn. Mean ± SEM, N = 9 Fus +/+/ChAT‐CRE, N = 8 Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS/−, and N = 4 Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS/ChAT‐CRE for Nissl+, and N = 11 Fus +/+/ChAT‐CRE, N = 7 Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS/−, and N = 8 Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS/ChAT‐CRE for ChAT +; (**) P < 0.01 versus Fus +/+, ## P < 0.01 versus Fus ∆ NLS /+; (ns) non‐significant; one‐way ANOVA followed by Tukey's post hoc test.
- E
Total numbers of caspase‐3 (Cas3)/ChAT/DAPI triple‐positive cells in Fus +/+/ChAT‐CRE, Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS/−, and Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS/ChAT‐CRE mice. N = 9 Fus +/+/ChAT‐CRE, N = 7 Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS/−, and N = 8 Fus Δ NLS /Δ NLS/ChAT‐CRE; **P < 0.01 versus Fus +/+, # P < 0.05 versus Fus ∆ NLS /+; (ns) non‐significant; one‐way ANOVA followed by Tukey's post hoc test.
Comment in
-
FUScinating insights into motor neuron degeneration.
Dormann D. Dormann D. EMBO J. 2016 May 17;35(10):1015-7. doi: 10.15252/embj.201694397. Epub 2016 Apr 6. EMBO J. 2016. PMID: 27053723 Free PMC article.
Similar articles
-
Scekic-Zahirovic J, Oussini HE, Mersmann S, Drenner K, Wagner M, Sun Y, Allmeroth K, Dieterlé S, Sinniger J, Dirrig-Grosch S, René F, Dormann D, Haass C, Ludolph AC, Lagier-Tourenne C, Storkebaum E, Dupuis L. Scekic-Zahirovic J, et al. Acta Neuropathol. 2017 Jun;133(6):887-906. doi: 10.1007/s00401-017-1687-9. Epub 2017 Feb 28. Acta Neuropathol. 2017. PMID: 28243725 Free PMC article.
-
Pelaez MC, Desmeules A, Gelon PA, Glasson B, Marcadet L, Rodgers A, Phaneuf D, Pozzi S, Dutchak PA, Julien JP, Sephton CF. Pelaez MC, et al. Acta Neuropathol Commun. 2023 Nov 16;11(1):182. doi: 10.1186/s40478-023-01671-1. Acta Neuropathol Commun. 2023. PMID: 37974279 Free PMC article.
-
Sharma A, Lyashchenko AK, Lu L, Nasrabady SE, Elmaleh M, Mendelsohn M, Nemes A, Tapia JC, Mentis GZ, Shneider NA. Sharma A, et al. Nat Commun. 2016 Feb 4;7:10465. doi: 10.1038/ncomms10465. Nat Commun. 2016. PMID: 26842965 Free PMC article.
-
[The FUS protein: Physiological functions and a role in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis].
Efimova AD, Ovchinnikov RK, Roman AY, Maltsev AV, Grigoriev VV, Kovrazhkina EA, Skvortsova VI. Efimova AD, et al. Mol Biol (Mosk). 2017 May-Jun;51(3):387-399. doi: 10.7868/S0026898417020094. Mol Biol (Mosk). 2017. PMID: 28707655 Review. Russian.
-
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, FUS and Protein Synthesis Defects.
Assoni AF, Foijer F, Zatz M. Assoni AF, et al. Stem Cell Rev Rep. 2023 Apr;19(3):625-638. doi: 10.1007/s12015-022-10489-8. Epub 2022 Dec 14. Stem Cell Rev Rep. 2023. PMID: 36515764 Review.
Cited by
-
hnRNPs: roles in neurodevelopment and implication for brain disorders.
Tilliole P, Fix S, Godin JD. Tilliole P, et al. Front Mol Neurosci. 2024 Jul 17;17:1411639. doi: 10.3389/fnmol.2024.1411639. eCollection 2024. Front Mol Neurosci. 2024. PMID: 39086926 Free PMC article. Review.
-
ALS Genetics, Mechanisms, and Therapeutics: Where Are We Now?
Mejzini R, Flynn LL, Pitout IL, Fletcher S, Wilton SD, Akkari PA. Mejzini R, et al. Front Neurosci. 2019 Dec 6;13:1310. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2019.01310. eCollection 2019. Front Neurosci. 2019. PMID: 31866818 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Xrp1 genetically interacts with the ALS-associated FUS orthologue caz and mediates its toxicity.
Mallik M, Catinozzi M, Hug CB, Zhang L, Wagner M, Bussmann J, Bittern J, Mersmann S, Klämbt C, Drexler HCA, Huynen MA, Vaquerizas JM, Storkebaum E. Mallik M, et al. J Cell Biol. 2018 Nov 5;217(11):3947-3964. doi: 10.1083/jcb.201802151. Epub 2018 Sep 12. J Cell Biol. 2018. PMID: 30209068 Free PMC article.
-
FUS Alters circRNA Metabolism in Human Motor Neurons Carrying the ALS-Linked P525L Mutation.
Colantoni A, Capauto D, Alfano V, D'Ambra E, D'Uva S, Tartaglia GG, Morlando M. Colantoni A, et al. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Feb 6;24(4):3181. doi: 10.3390/ijms24043181. Int J Mol Sci. 2023. PMID: 36834591 Free PMC article.
-
Protein Arginine Methyltransferases in Neuromuscular Function and Diseases.
Lee J, An S, Lee SJ, Kang JS. Lee J, et al. Cells. 2022 Jan 21;11(3):364. doi: 10.3390/cells11030364. Cells. 2022. PMID: 35159176 Free PMC article. Review.
References
-
- Alami NH, Smith RB, Carrasco MA, Williams LA, Winborn CS, Han SS, Kiskinis E, Winborn B, Freibaum BD, Kanagaraj A, Clare AJ, Badders NM, Bilican B, Chaum E, Chandran S, Shaw CE, Eggan KC, Maniatis T, Taylor JP (2014) Axonal transport of TDP‐43 mRNA granules is impaired by ALS‐causing mutations. Neuron 81: 536–543 - PMC - PubMed
-
- Arnold ES, Ling SC, Huelga SC, Lagier‐Tourenne C, Polymenidou M, Ditsworth D, Kordasiewicz HB, McAlonis‐Downes M, Platoshyn O, Parone PA, Da Cruz S, Clutario KM, Swing D, Tessarollo L, Marsala M, Shaw CE, Yeo GW, Cleveland DW (2013) ALS‐linked TDP‐43 mutations produce aberrant RNA splicing and adult‐onset motor neuron disease without aggregation or loss of nuclear TDP‐43. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 110: E736–E745 - PMC - PubMed
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
Molecular Biology Databases
Miscellaneous