C9ORF72 repeat expansion causes vulnerability of motor neurons to Ca2+-permeable AMPA receptor-mediated excitotoxicity

Abstract

Mutations in C9ORF72 are the most common cause of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Here, through a combination of RNA-seq and electrophysiological studies on induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) derived motor neuron (MNs), we show that increased expression of GluA1 AMPA receptor (AMPAR) subunit occurs in MNs with C9ORF72 mutations that leads to increased Ca2+-permeable AMPAR expression and results in enhanced selective MN vulnerability to excitotoxicity. These deficits are not found in iPSC-derived cortical neurons and are abolished by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated correction of the C9ORF72 repeat expansion in MNs. We also demonstrate that MN-specific dysregulation of AMPAR expression is also present in C9ORF72 patient post mortem material. We therefore present multiple lines of evidence for the specific upregulation of GluA1 subunits in human mutant C9ORF72 MNs that could lead to a potential pathogenic excitotoxic mechanism in ALS.