TDP-43 is directed to stress granules by sorbitol, a novel physiological osmotic and oxidative stressor.

TDP-43, or TAR DNA-binding protein 43, is a pathological marker of a spectrum of neurodegenerative disorders, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal lobar degeneration with ubiquitin-positive inclusions. TDP-43 is an RNA/DNA-binding protein implicated in transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation. Recent work also suggests that TDP-43 associates with cytoplasmic stress granules, which are transient structures that form in response to stress. In this study, we establish sorbitol as a novel physiological stressor that directs TDP-43 to stress granules in Hek293T cells and primary cultured glia. We quantify the association of TDP-43 with stress granules over time and show that stress granule association and size are dependent on the glycine-rich region of TDP-43, which harbors the majority of pathogenic mutations. Moreover, we establish that cells harboring wild-type and mutant TDP-43 have distinct stress responses: mutant TDP-43 forms significantly larger stress granules, and is incorporated into stress granules earlier, than wild-type TDP-43; in striking contrast, wild-type TDP-43 forms more stress granules over time, but the granule size remains relatively unchanged. We propose that mutant TDP-43 alters stress granule dynamics, which may contribute to the progression of TDP-43 proteinopathies.

TDP-43 is a developmentally regulated protein essential for early embryonic development.

TDP-43 is a DNA/RNA-binding protein implicated in multiple steps of transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. Alteration of this multifunctional protein is associated with a number of neurodegenerative diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal lobar degeneration with ubiquitin positive inclusions. Whereas a pathological link to neurodegenerative disorders has been established, the cellular and physiological functions of TDP-43 remain unknown. In this study, we show that TDP-43 is a nuclear protein with persistent high-level expression during embryonic development and with progressively decreased protein levels during postnatal development. In mice where the TDP-43 gene (Tardbp) was disrupted using a gene trap that carries a beta-galactosidase marker gene, heterozygous (Tardbp(+/-)) mice are fertile and healthy, but intercrosses of Tardbp(+/-) mice yielded no viable homozygotic null (Tardbp(-/-)) mice. Indeed, Tardbp(-/-) embryos die between 3.5 and 8.5 days of development. Tardbp(-/-) blastocysts grown in cell culture display abnormal expansion of their inner cell mass. The pattern of beta-galactosidase staining at E9.5 Tardbp(+/-) embryos is predominantly restricted to the neuroepithelium and remains prominent in neural progenitors at E10.5-12.5. TDP-43 is detected in spinal cord progenitors and in differentiated motor neurons as well as in the dorsal root ganglia at E12.5. Beta-galactosidase staining of tissues from adult Tardbp(+/-) mice shows widespread expression of TDP-43, including prominent levels in various regions of the central nervous system afflicted in neurodegenerative disorders. These results indicate that TDP-43 is developmentally regulated and indispensible for early embryonic development.