TDP-43 was found to interact with two DNA repair proteins in ALS tissue and neuronal cells
Original source
TDP43 Interacts with MLH1 and MSH6 Proteins in A DNA Damage-Inducible Manner. (opens in a new tab)Compass summarised this from the study's abstract.
Study details
- Peer review
- Preprint, not yet peer reviewed
Related topics
TDP-43 interacted with the DNA mismatch repair proteins MLH1 and MSH6 after DNA damage was induced in cultured neuronal cells. The interaction was also increased in lumbar spinal cord samples from people with ALS compared with age-matched controls. The findings may help researchers study how TDP-43 relates to DNA repair in ALS.
Why this matters
This identifies a possible connection between TDP-43 and DNA mismatch repair in ALS-affected neurons. It does not show that the interaction causes ALS or that changing it would benefit people with ALS, and it does not change treatment.
Limitations and context
The work is a preprint and journal article record, and the experiments used differentiated SH-SY5Y neuronal cultures and postmortem spinal cord samples. The cell experiments used a chemical to induce DNA damage, and the study examined protein interactions rather than treatment effects or disease outcomes. Further work is needed to establish what this interaction does in ALS and whether it can be therapeutically targeted.