Ggnbp2 regulates synaptic development and autophagy in motor neurons

AbstractGenome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified numerous candidate ALS risk variants, but their cellular functions are often unknown. Recent studies have identified a variant of GGNBP2 that results in increased expression. To better understand how this gene might contribute to disease, we investigated the function of Drosophila Ggnbp2 (dGgnbp2) in motor neurons. Loss of function studies showed that dGgnbp2 is required for motor neuron synaptic development. A human transgene completely rescued these phenotypes indicating that the gene is functionally conserved between humans and flies. Overexpression of dGgnbp2 caused severe locomotor defects in adult flies, consistent with ALS pathology. At the cellular level, dGgnbp2 regulated autophagy, a process commonly defective in ALS. Both overexpression and removal of dGgnbp2 reduced levels of the phosphorylated lipid, PI(3)P, an essential component of autophagosomes. Our study provides strong evidence that Ggnbp2 functions in motor neurons to regulate a cellular process commonly defective in ALS. TeaserThis study investigated the function of the ALS risk variant GGNBP2, in flies, and showed that it regulates autophagy in motor neurons.