Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are known to regulate DNA damage response (DDR) and genome stability in proliferative cells. However, it remains unknown whether lncRNAs are involved in these vital biological processes in post-mitotic neurons. Here, we report and characterize a lncRNA, termed Brain Specific DNA-damage Related lncRNA1 (BS-DRL1), in the central nervous system. BS-DRL1 is a brain-specific lncRNA and depletion of BS-DRL1 in neurons leads to impaired DDR upon etoposide treatment in vitro. Mechanistically, BS-DRL1 interacts with HMGB1, a chromatin protein that is important for genome stability, and is essential for the assembly of HMGB1 on chromatin. BS-DRL1 mediated DDR exhibits cell-type specificity in the cortex and cerebellum in gamma-irradiated mice and BS-DRL1 knockout mice show impaired motor function and concomitant purkinje cell degeneration. Our study extends the understanding of lncRNAs in DDR and genome stability and implies a protective role of lncRNA against neurodegeneration.

Synaptic dysfunction is one of the earliest pathological processes that contribute to the development of many neurological disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). However, the synaptic function of many disease-causative genes and their contribution to the pathogenesis of the related diseases remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the synaptic role of FUS, an RNA-binding protein linked to FTLD and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and its potential pathological role in FTLD using pyramidal neuron-specific conditional knockout mice (FuscKO). We found that FUS regulates the expression of many genes associated with synaptic function in a hippocampal subregion-specific manner, concomitant with the FTLD-linked behavioral disinhibition. Electro-physiology study and molecular pathway analyses further reveal that FUS differentially regulates synaptic and neuronal properties in the ventral hippocampus (vHPC) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), respectively. Moreover, FUS selectively modulates the vHPC-mPFC projection，which is known to mediate the anxiety-like behavior. Our findings unveil the brain region- and synapse-specific role of FUS, whose impairment might lead to the emotional symptoms associated with FTLD.

IntroductionPhospholipase A2 Group VI (PLA2G6), encoding calcium-independent phospholipase A2, has been isolated as the gene responsible for an autosomal recessive form of early-onset Parkinson’s disease (namely, PARK14). Compared to idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (iPD), PARK14 has several atypical clinical features. PARK14 has an earlier age at onset and is more likely to develop levodopa-induced dyskinesia. In iPD, serum metabolomics has observed alterations in several metabolic pathways that are related to disease status and clinical manifestations. This study aims to describe the serum metabolomics features of patients with PARK14.DesignThis case-control biomarker study tested nine patients diagnosed with PARK14. Eight age and sex-matched healthy subjects were recruited as controls. To evaluate the influence of single heterozygous mutation, we enrolled eight healthy one-degree family members of patients with PARK14, two patients diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s disease (EOPD) who had only a single heterozygous PLA2G6 mutation, and one patient with EOPD without any known pathogenic mutation.MethodsThe diagnosis of PARK14 was made according to the diagnostic criteria for Parkinson’s disease (PD) and confirmed by genetic testing. To study the serum metabolic features, we analyzed participants’ serum using UHPLC-QTOF/MS analysis, a well-established technology.ResultsWe quantified 50 compounds of metabolites from the serum of all the study subjects. Metabolites alterations in serum had good predictive accuracy for PARK14 diagnosis (AUC 0.903) and advanced stage in PARK14 (AUC 0.944). Of the 24 metabolites that changed significantly in patients’ serum, eight related to lipid metabolism. Oleic acid and xanthine were associated with MMSE scores. Xanthine, L-histidine, and phenol correlated with UPDRS-III scores. Oleic acid and 1-oleoyl-L-alpha-lysophosphatidic acid could also predict the subclass of the more advanced stage in the PLA2G6 Group in ROC models.ConclusionThe significantly altered metabolites can be used to differentiate PLA2G6 pathogenic mutations and predict disease severity. Patients with PLA2G6 mutations had elevated lipid compounds in C18:1 and C16:0 groups. The alteration of lipid metabolism might be the key intermediate process in PLA2G6-related disease that needs further investigation.