Mis-splicing of a neuronal microexon promotes CPEB4 aggregation in ASD
The inclusion of microexons by alternative splicing occurs frequently in neuronal proteins. The roles of these sequences are largely unknown, and changes in their degree of inclusion are associated with neurodevelopmental disorders<sup>1</sup>. We have previously shown that decreased inclusion of a 24-nucleotide neuron-specific microexon in CPEB4, a RNA-binding protein that regulates translation through cytoplasmic changes in poly(A) tail length, is linked to idiopathic autism spectrum disorder (ASD)<sup>2</sup>. Why this microexon is required and how small changes in its degree of inclusion have a dominant-negative effect on the expression of ASD-linked genes is unclear. Here we show that neuronal CPEB4 forms condensates that dissolve after depolarization, a transition associated with a switch from translational repression to activation. Heterotypic interactions between the microexon and a cluster of histidine residues prevent the irreversible aggregation of CPEB4 by competing with homotypic interactions between histidine clusters. We conclude that the microexon is required in neuronal CPEB4 to preserve the reversible regulation of CPEB4-mediated gene expression in response to neuronal stimulation.
Authors
- Judit Martín (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4193-7890)
- José J. Lucas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1597-3916)
- Kresten Lindorff‐Larsen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4750-6039)
- Jesús García (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2961-9790)
- Marcos Fernández‐Alfara (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0861-4758)
- Cesare De Pace (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-8059-6604)
- Xavier Salvatella (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8371-4185)
- Kai Chit Cheung
- Lorena Ruiz‐Pérez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0512-5606)
- Berta Duran-Arqué
- Raúl Méndez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1952-6905)
- Julia Pose‐Utrilla (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5009-344X)
- Carla Garcia‐Cabau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0533-0642)
- Giuseppe Battaglia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3349-6770)
- Anna Bartomeu
- Giulio Tesei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4339-4460)
- Rubén Hervás (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6393-6058)
- Andreea Balaceanu
- Sara Picó (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3022-8084)
Institutions
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ES)
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ES)
- Biomedical Research Networking Center on Neurodegenerative Diseases (ES)
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine (ES)
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa (ES)
- Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (ES)
- University College London (GB)
- Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (ES)
- Universitat de Barcelona (ES)
- University of Hong Kong (HK)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature
- Published
- 2024-12-04
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08289-w
- Citations
- 41
- Primary Topic
- RNA Research and Splicing
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 9.59