- Ho, Wan;
- Chak, Li-Ling;
- Hor, Jin-Hui;
- Liu, Fujia;
- Diaz-Garcia, Sandra;
- Chang, Jer-Cherng;
- Sanford, Emma;
- Rodriguez, Maria;
- Alagappan, Durgadevi;
- Lim, Su;
- Cho, Yik-Lam;
- Shimizu, Yuji;
- Sun, Alfred;
- Tyan, Sheue-Houy;
- Koo, Edward;
- Kim, Seung;
- Ravits, John;
- Ng, Shi-Yan;
- Okamura, Katsutomo;
- Ling, Shuo-Chien
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) modulate mRNA expression, and their deregulation contributes to various diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). As fused in sarcoma (FUS) is a causal gene for ALS and regulates biogenesis of miRNAs, we systematically analyzed the miRNA repertoires in spinal cords and hippocampi from ALS-FUS mice to understand how FUS-dependent miRNA deregulation contributes to ALS. miRNA profiling identified differentially expressed miRNAs between different central nervous system (CNS) regions as well as disease states. Among the up-regulated miRNAs, miR-1197 targets the pro-survival pseudokinase Trib2. A reduced TRIB2 expression was observed in iPSC-derived motor neurons from ALS patients. Pharmacological stabilization of TRIB2 protein with a clinically approved cancer drug rescues the survival of iPSC-derived human motor neurons, including those from a sporadic ALS patient. Collectively, our data indicate that miRNA profiling can be used to probe the molecular mechanisms underlying selective vulnerability, and TRIB2 is a potential therapeutic target for ALS.