UPF1 reduces C9orf72 HRE-induced neurotoxicity in the absence of nonsense-mediated decay dysfunction

SUMMARY Multiple cellular pathways have been suggested to be altered by the C9orf72 GGGGCC (G4C2) hexanucleotide repeat expansion (HRE), including aspects of RNA regulation such as nonsense-mediated decay (NMD). Here, we investigate the role that overexpression of UPF1, a protein involved in NMD, plays in mitigating neurotoxicity in multiple models of C9orf72 ALS/FTD. First, we show that NMD is not altered in our endogenous induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived spinal neuron (iPSN) model of C9orf72 ALS (C9-ALS) or postmortem motor cortex tissue from C9-ALS patients. Unexpectedly, we find that UPF1 overexpression significantly reduces the severity of known neurodegenerative phenotypes without altering NMD function itself. UPF1 overexpression reduces poly(GP) abundance without altering the amount of repeat RNA, providing a potential mechanism by which UPF1 reduces dipeptide repeat (DPR) protein-mediated toxicity. Together, these findings indicate that UPF1 is neuroprotective in the context of C9-ALS, albeit independent of known UPF1-mediated NMD pathways.
Graphical abstract
In brief Zaepfel et al. show that UPF1 is neuroprotective in the context of C9-ALS. This neuroprotection is observed in multiple in vitro and in vivo models of C9-ALS. UPF1 mitigates toxicity independently of its role in nonsense-mediated decay but is dependent on its known RNA-binding and helicase activity.