TDP-43 stabilises the processing intermediates of mitochondrial transcripts

Keiichi Izumikawa, Yuko Nobe, Harunori Yoshikawa, Hideaki Ishikawa, Yutaka Miura, Hiroshi Nakayama, Takashi Nonaka, Masato Hasegawa, Naohiro Egawa, Haruhisa Inoue, Kouki Nishikawa, Koji Yamano, Richard J. Simpson, Masato Taoka, Yoshio Yamauchi, Toshiaki Isobe, Nobuhiro Takahashi (Lead / Corresponding author)

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Abstract

The 43-kDa trans-activating response region DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) is a product of a causative gene for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Despite of accumulating evidence that mitochondrial dysfunction underlies the pathogenesis of TDP-43-related ALS, the roles of wild-type TDP-43 in mitochondria are unknown. Here, we show that the small TDP-43 population present in mitochondria binds directly to a subset of mitochondrial tRNAs and precursor RNA encoded in L-strand mtDNA. Upregulated expression of TDP-43 stabilised the processing intermediates of mitochondrial polycistronic transcripts and their products including the components of electron transport and 16S mt-rRNA, similar to the phenotype observed in cells deficient for mitochondrial RNase P. Conversely, TDP-43 deficiency reduced the population of processing intermediates and impaired mitochondrial function. We propose that TDP-43 has a novel role in maintaining mitochondrial homeostasis by regulating the processing of mitochondrial transcripts.

Original languageEnglish
Article number7709
Pages (from-to)1-14
Number of pages14
JournalScientific Reports
Volume7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 9 Aug 2017

Keywords

  • Journal article

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