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. 2010 May 13;465(7295):223-6.
doi: 10.1038/nature08971. Epub 2010 Apr 28.

Mutations of optineurin in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Hirofumi Maruyama  1 , Hiroyuki Morino, Hidefumi Ito, Yuishin Izumi, Hidemasa Kato, Yasuhito Watanabe, Yoshimi Kinoshita, Masaki Kamada, Hiroyuki Nodera, Hidenori Suzuki, Osamu Komure, Shinya Matsuura, Keitaro Kobatake, Nobutoshi Morimoto, Koji Abe, Naoki Suzuki, Masashi Aoki, Akihiro Kawata, Takeshi Hirai, Takeo Kato, Kazumasa Ogasawara, Asao Hirano, Toru Takumi, Hirofumi Kusaka, Koichi Hagiwara, Ryuji Kaji, Hideshi Kawakami
Affiliations

Mutations of optineurin in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Hirofumi Maruyama et al. Nature. .

Abstract

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has its onset in middle age and is a progressive disorder characterized by degeneration of motor neurons of the primary motor cortex, brainstem and spinal cord. Most cases of ALS are sporadic, but about 10% are familial. Genes known to cause classic familial ALS (FALS) are superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1), ANG encoding angiogenin, TARDP encoding transactive response (TAR) DNA-binding protein TDP-43 (ref. 4) and fused in sarcoma/translated in liposarcoma (FUS, also known as TLS). However, these genetic defects occur in only about 20-30% of cases of FALS, and most genes causing FALS are unknown. Here we show that there are mutations in the gene encoding optineurin (OPTN), earlier reported to be a causative gene of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), in patients with ALS. We found three types of mutation of OPTN: a homozygous deletion of exon 5, a homozygous Q398X nonsense mutation and a heterozygous E478G missense mutation within its ubiquitin-binding domain. Analysis of cell transfection showed that the nonsense and missense mutations of OPTN abolished the inhibition of activation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB), and the E478G mutation revealed a cytoplasmic distribution different from that of the wild type or a POAG mutation. A case with the E478G mutation showed OPTN-immunoreactive cytoplasmic inclusions. Furthermore, TDP-43- or SOD1-positive inclusions of sporadic and SOD1 cases of ALS were also noticeably immunolabelled by anti-OPTN antibodies. Our findings strongly suggest that OPTN is involved in the pathogenesis of ALS. They also indicate that NF-kappaB inhibitors could be used to treat ALS and that transgenic mice bearing various mutations of OPTN will be relevant in developing new drugs for this disorder.

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