DNA damage burden causes selective CUX2 neuron loss in neuroinflammation
Neurodegeneration shows regional and cell-type-specific patterns in ageing and disease1, but the underlying mechanisms for cell-type-specific neuronal losses remain poorly understood. Previous studies have shown that upper cortical layer thinning occurs in progressive human multiple sclerosis (MS) a...
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| Autori principali: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Natura: | Article (Journal) |
| Lingua: | inglese |
| Pubblicazione: |
01 April 2026
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| In: |
Nature
Year: 2026, Pages: 1-10 |
| ISSN: | 1476-4687 |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41586-026-10310-3 |
| Accesso online: | Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10310-3 Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10310-3 |
| Note sull'autore: | Laura Morcom, Wenlong Xia, Zhaoyang Xu, Yashika Awasthi, Celine Geywitz, Matthew O. Ellis, Tomas Noli, Amel Zulji, Daniel Yamamoto, Gemma C. Girdler, Li Kai, Keying Zhu, Mingming Wei, Xiao-Yan Tang, Kimberly K. Hoi, Julio Gonzalez-Maya, Greg J. Duncan, Adrien M. Vaquie, Diana Gold Diaz, Riki Kawaguchi, Erdong Liu, Yu Sun, Denny Yang, Gregory D. Jordan, I.-Ling Lu, Staffan Holmqvist, Theresa Bartels, Katherine Ridley, Jennifer Ja-Yoon Choi, Santos J. Franco, Eric J. Huang, Ben Emery, Daniel Geschwind, Lucas Schirmer, Gabriel Balmus, Brian Popko, Stephen P.J. Fancy & David H. Rowitch |
| Riassunto: | Neurodegeneration shows regional and cell-type-specific patterns in ageing and disease1, but the underlying mechanisms for cell-type-specific neuronal losses remain poorly understood. Previous studies have shown that upper cortical layer thinning occurs in progressive human multiple sclerosis (MS) and that cortical layer 2 and layer 3 (L2/3) excitatory neurons (L2/3ENs) that express CUT-like homeobox 2 (CUX2) are selectively vulnerable to degeneration2. Here we report that L2/3ENs within MS cortical lesions have an elevated DNA damage burden. DNA damage and selective loss of L2/3ENs were recapitulated in diverse mouse models of demyelination and pan-cortical inflammation, confirming their intrinsic vulnerability. Functions of Cux2 and activating transcription factor 4 (Atf4) were essential for resilience of L2/3ENs during postnatal neuroinflammation, acting in neurons to enhance DNA double-strand break repair. Interferon-γ, a cytokine implicated in MS pathogenesis3,4, was sufficient to elevate levels of reactive oxygen species, leading to DNA damage-mediated neuronal death in vitro, and caused selective depletion of L2/3 neurons in mice. These findings indicate that DNA damage burden and inadequate repair in CUX2+ L2/3ENs contributes to selective vulnerability in neuroinflammatory injury. |
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| Descrizione del documento: | Gesehen am 14.04.2026 |
| Descrizione fisica: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 1476-4687 |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41586-026-10310-3 |