TDP-43 Overexpression Induces Cellular Dysfunction and ALS-associated Transcriptional Changes

Transactive response DNA-binding protein (TDP-43) plays a key pathological role in several neurodegenerative diseases, particularly amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). Despite the well-established role of TDP-43 in neurodegenerative disorders, it remains a complex area of study as it is unclear whether nuclear loss-of-function, cytoplasmic gain-of-function, or both drive pathogenesis. TDP-43 overexpression models are advantageous tools when developing drug candidates targeted at TDP-43, however, existing models often lack comprehensive RNA-seq data benchmarked against patient datasets. Given the value of TDP-43 overexpression as a model of ALS-related pathology, we have developed a stable, inducible system in a HEK293-derived cell line, offering a practical and scalable platform to investigate TDP-43 dysregulation. Utilizing this system, we found that TDP-43 overexpression reflected key features associated with ALS pathology, causing cytotoxicity, nucleocytoplasmic mislocalization, and extensive transcriptomic changes. Furthermore, comparative RNA-seq analysis between this model and ALS patient-derived data revealed substantial overlaps, where 64