Genome-wide RNA-Seq of Human Motor Neurons Implicates Selective ER Stress Activation in Spinal Muscular Atrophy

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

Abstract

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is caused by mutations in the SMN1 gene. Because this gene is expressed ubiquitously, it remains poorly understood why motor neurons (MNs) are one of the most affected cell types. To address this question, we carried out RNA sequencing studies using fixed, antibody-labeled, and purified MNs produced from control and SMA patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). We found SMA-specific changes in MNs, including hyper-activation of the ER stress pathway. Functional studies demonstrated that inhibition of ER stress improves MN survival in vitro even in MNs expressing low SMN. In SMA mice, systemic delivery of an ER stress inhibitor that crosses the blood-brain barrier led to the preservation of spinal cord MNs. Therefore, our study implies that selective activation of ER stress underlies MN death in SMA. Moreover, the approach we have taken would be broadly applicable to the study of disease-prone human cells in heterogeneous cultures.

Details

Original languageEnglish
JournalCell Stem Cell
Volume17
Issue number5
Publication statusPublished - 2015
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

WOS 000365694700010
Scopus 84947867559

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals

Library keywords