Metabolism and mis-metabolism of the neuropathological signature protein TDP-43

TDP-43 is a pathological signature protein of neurodegenerative diseases with TDP-43 proteinopathies including FTLD-TDP and ALS-TDP. These TDP-43 proteinopathies are characterized with cytoplasmic insoluble TDP-43(+) aggregates in the diseased cells, the formation of which requires the seeding of TDP-25 fragment generated by caspase cleavage of TDP-43. We have investigated the metabolism and mis-metabolism of TDP-43 in cultured cells and found that the endogenous and exogenously over-expressed TDP-43 are degraded not only by ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS) and macroautophagy (MA), but also by the chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) mediated through interaction between Hsc70 and ubiquitinated TDP-43. Furthermore, proteolytic cleavage of TDP-43 by caspase(s) is a necessary intermediate step for degradation of a majority of the TDP-43 protein, with the TDP-25/TDP-35 fragments being the main substrates. Finally, we have determined the threshold level of the TDP-25 fragment that is necessary for formation of the cytosolic TDP-43(+) aggregates in cells containing the full-length TDP-43 at an elevated level close to that found in patients with TDP-43 proteinopathies. A comprehensive model of the metabolism and mis-metabolism of TDP-43 in relation to these findings is presented.