The Xrp1 protein appears to play an important role in the development of certain forms of ALS and dementia caused by a mutation in the FUS gene. This finding of Radboud University researchers was published on September 12th in the Journal of Cell Biology.
The FUS protein is known to be involved in the development of two incurable diseases: ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) and FTD (frontotemporal dementia). Mutations in the FUS gene that promotes the production of FUS protein cause a hereditary form of ALS, while protein accumulations containing the FUS protein are found in the brain of about 10 percent of FTD patients.
By studying a genetic model of the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) for these diseases, molecular neurobiologists of Radboud University have shown that FUS proteins causing ALS substantially increase the amounts of another protein, Xrp1. In turn, this causes defects in the expression of more than 3,000 other genes, which probably contributes to the symptoms of the two disorders.
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