FUS is not dysregulated by the spinal bulbar muscular atrophy androgen receptor polyglutamine repeat expansion

Abstract

Spinal bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis are two distinct forms of motor neuron disease with different genetic causes, pathology, and clinical course. However, both disorders are characterized by the progressive loss of lower motor neurons and by a similar protective response to growth factors in animal models, therefore raising the possibility of an overlap in the final pathogenic cascade. Mutations in the FUS gene and fused in sarcoma (FUS) protein pathology have now been identified in some amyotrophic lateral sclerosis cases, while a CAG expansion in the androgen receptor gene is known to cause SBMA. Recently, multiple lines of evidence have identified FUS as a major target of the androgen receptor, suggesting that FUS could be dysregulated in SBMA motor neurons. We have investigated this possibility by using a well-established mouse model of SBMA and our analysis of primary motor neuron cultures, spinal cords, and microdissected motor neurons show no evidence for FUS dysregulation.