Expression Profiling of Caenorabditis elegans tdp-1 loss-of-function mutant

Transactive response DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa (TDP-43), a heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) with diverse activities, is a common denominator in several neurodegenerative disorders including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). Orthologs of TDP-43 exist from mammals to invertebrates, but their functions in lower organisms remain poorly understood. Here we systematically studied mutant Caenorhabditis elegans lacking the nematode TDP-43 ortholog, TDP-1. To understand the global gene expression regulation induced by the loss of tdp-1, the C. elegans transcriptomes were compared between the N2 WT animals and the tdp-1(ok803lf) mutant. Transcriptional profiling demonstrated that the loss of TDP-1 altered expression of genes functioning in RNA processing and protein folding. These results suggest that the C. elegans TDP-1 as an RNA-processing protein may have a role in the regulation of protein homeostasis and aging. Global gene expression profiling was performed to compare the transcriptome of wild-type (N2) Caenorabditis elegans and that of tdp-1(ok803) loss-of-function mutant. We analyzed mixed stages of Caenorabditis elegans, wild-type N2 versus tdp-1(ok803), using the Affymetrix C. elegans genome array. Three biological replicates were performed.