Blazeman Foundation for ALS Research Research Progress Report 5/1/2016 – 4/30/2017 Avital Rodal, Brandeis University

The research paper published in the October issue of the journal Molecular Biology of the Cell (MBoC) was chosen for ‘Highlights from MBoC’, a selection of papers in the journal that are deemed important for the field. [...] This indicates that other targets of TDP-43 are involved in the perturbation of growth signaling that we have observed, and that the calcium channel is affecting a separate pathway. [...] 2C: Defects in dendritic branching and calcium signaling in mammalian ALS model: We have been investigating the mechanisms underlying the defects in growth and branching of mammalian neurons caused by TDP-43 misregulation, in collaboration with Dr. [...] Although we failed to see a rescue of the growth signaling defects in the fruit fly model by restoring calcium channels, our current data suggests that in mammalian neurons, TDP-43 misregulation can lead to defects in calcium entry. [...] Testing the whether the defect in dendritic branching resulting from misregulation of TDP-43 depends on the molecular pathway that leads to calcium-dependent activation of CREB.