As RNA binding proteins (RBPs) play essential roles in cellular physiology by interacting with target RNAs, binding site identification by UV-crosslinking and immunoprecipitation (CLIP) of ribonucleoprotein complexes is critical to understanding RBP function. However, current CLIP protocols are technically demanding and yield low complexity libraries with high experimental failure rates. We have developed an enhanced CLIP (eCLIP) protocol that decreases requisite amplification by ~1,000-fold, decreasing discarded PCR duplicate reads by ~60% while maintaining single-nucleotide binding resolution. By simplifying the generation of paired IgG and size-matched input controls, eCLIP improves specificity in discovery of authentic binding sites. We generated 102 eCLIP experiments for 73 diverse RBPs in HepG2 and K562 cells (available at https://www.encodeproject.org), demonstrating that eCLIP enables large-scale and robust profiling, with amplification and sample requirements similar to ChIP-seq. eCLIP enables integrative analysis of diverse RBPs to reveal factor-specific profiles, common artifacts for CLIP and RNA-centric perspectives of RBP activity.

SUMMARY A hexanucleotide GGGGCC repeat expansion in the noncoding region of the C9ORF72 gene is the most common genetic abnormality in familial and sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The function of the C9ORF72 protein is unknown, as is the mechanism by which the repeat expansion could cause disease. Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-differentiated neurons from C9ORF72 ALS patients revealed disease-specific (1) intranuclear GGGGCCexp RNA foci, (2) dysregulated gene expression, (3) sequestration of GGGGCCexp RNA binding protein ADARB2, and (4) susceptibility to excitotoxicity. These pathological and pathogenic characteristics were confirmed in ALS brain and were mitigated with antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapeutics to the C9ORF72 transcript or repeat expansion despite the presence of repeat-associated non-ATG translation (RAN) products. These data indicate a toxic RNA gain-of-function mechanism as a cause of C9ORF72 ALS and provide candidate antisense therapeutics and candidate human pharmacodynamic markers for therapy.

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Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a severe neurodegenerative condition characterized by loss of motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. Expansions of a hexanucleotide repeat (GGGGCC) in the noncoding region of the C9ORF72 gene are the most common cause of the familial form of ALS (C9-ALS), as well as frontotemporal lobar degeneration and other neurological diseases. How the repeat expansion causes disease remains unclear, with both loss of function (haploinsufficiency) and gain of function (either toxic RNA or protein products) proposed. Here, we report a cellular model of C9-ALS with motor neurons differentiated from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from ALS patients carrying the C9ORF72 repeat expansion. No significant loss of C9ORF72 expression was observed, and knockdown of the transcript was not toxic to cultured human motor neurons. Transcription of the repeat was increased leading to accumulation of GGGGCC repeat-containing RNA foci selectively in C9-ALS motor neurons. Repeat-containing RNA foci co-localized with hnRNPA1 and Pur-α, suggesting that they may be able to alter RNA metabolism. C9-ALS motor neurons showed altered expression of genes involved in membrane excitability including DPP6, and demonstrated a diminished capacity to fire continuous spikes upon depolarization compared to control motor neurons. Antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) targeting the C9ORF72 transcript suppressed RNA foci formation and reversed gene expression alterations in C9-ALS motor neurons. These data show that patient-derived motor neurons can be used to delineate pathogenic events in ALS.

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