Transcriptomic analysis of the spinal cords of knock-in adult mice carrying the ATXN2/TDP-43 human transgenes

Intermediate-length repeat expansions in ATAXIN-2 (ATXN2) are a strong genetic risk factor for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). At the molecular level, ATXN2 intermediate expansions enhance TDP-43 toxicity and pathology. However, whether this triggers ALS pathogenesis at the cellular and functional level remains unknown. To investigate gene expression changes and deregulated pathways caused by ataxin-2 intermediate repeat expansions in presence/absence of mutant TDP-43, we performed RNA sequencing of whole spinal cords from knock-in mice harboring ATXN2 and TDP-43 human transgenes as well as non-transgenic mice (NTg) Overall design: 10-months-old spinal cord samples were obtained from each mouse line (n = 3 mice per genotype). Total RNA was isolated and processed for downstream RNA sequencing analysis (details provided below).