LETTERS TO JMG

Contribution of TARDBP mutations to sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

H Daoud¹, P N Valdmanis¹, E Kabashi¹, P Dion¹, N Dupré², W Camu³, V Meininger⁴, G A Rouleau¹

¹ Centre of Excellence in Neuromics, CHUM Research Center and the Department of Medicine, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
² Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Centre Hospitalier Affilié Universitaire de Québec – Enfant-Jesus Hospital, Quebec, Canada
³ Unité de Neurologie Comportementale et Dégénérative, Institute of Biology, Montpellier, France
⁴ Fédération des maladies du système nerveux, Division Paul Castaigne, Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, Paris, France

Dr G A Rouleau, Centre of Excellence in Neuromics, CHUM Research Center and the Department of Medicine, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec H2L 4MI, Canada; guy.rouleau{at}umontreal.ca

Aims and background: Mutations in the TARDBP gene, which encodes the TAR DNA binding protein (TDP-43), have been described in individuals with familial and sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We screened the TARDBP gene in 285 French sporadic ALS patients to assess the frequency of TARDBP mutations in ALS.

Results: Six individuals had potentially deleterious mutations of which three were novel including a Y374X truncating mutation and P363A and A382P missense mutations. This suggests that TARDBP mutations may predispose to ALS in approximately 2% of the individuals followed in this study.

Conclusion: Our findings, combined with those from other collections, brings the total number of mutations in unrelated ALS patients to 17, further suggesting that mutations in the TARDBP gene have an important role in the pathogenesis of ALS.

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Baumer, D, Parkinson, N, Talbot, K (2009). TARDBP in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: identification of a novel variant but absence of copy number variation. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 80: 1283-1285 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Pesiridis, G. S., Lee, V. M.-Y., Trojanowski, J. Q. (2009). Mutations in TDP-43 link glycine-rich domain functions to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Hum Mol Genet 18: R156-R162 [Abstract] [Full Text]