The ALS/FTD-related C9orf72 hexanucleotide repeat expansion forms RNA condensates through multimolecular G-quadruplexes

Raguseo F., Wang Y., Li J., Petrić Howe M., Balendra R., Huyghebaert A., Vadukul DM., Tanase DA., Maher TE., Malouf L., Rubio-Sánchez R., Aprile FA., Elani Y., Patani R., Di Michele L., Di Antonio M.

Abstract Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are neurodegenerative diseases that exist on a clinico-pathogenetic spectrum, designated ALS/FTD. The most common genetic cause of ALS/FTD is expansion of the intronic hexanucleotide repeat (GGGGCC) n in C9orf72 . Here, we investigate the formation of nucleic acid secondary structures in these expansion repeats, and their role in generating condensates characteristic of ALS/FTD. We observe significant aggregation of the hexanucleotide sequence (GGGGCC) n , which we associate to the formation of multimolecular G-quadruplexes (mG4s) by using a range of biophysical techniques. Exposing the condensates to G4-unfolding conditions leads to prompt disassembly, highlighting the key role of mG4-formation in the condensation process. We further validate the biological relevance of our findings by detecting an increased prevalence of G4-structures in C9orf72 mutant human motor neurons when compared to healthy motor neurons by staining with a G4-selective fluorescent probe, revealing signal in putative condensates. Our findings strongly suggest that RNA G-rich repetitive sequences can form protein-free condensates sustained by multimolecular G-quadruplexes, highlighting their potential relevance as therapeutic targets for C9orf72 mutation-related ALS/FTD.

DOI

10.1038/s41467-023-43872-1

Type

Journal article

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Publication Date

2023-12-13T00:00:00+00:00

Volume

14

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