Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38278991›Full record

ArticleNature medicine2024

A fluid biomarker reveals loss of TDP-43 splicing repression in presymptomatic ALS-FTD.

Katherine E Irwin, Pei Jasin, Kerstin E Braunstein, Irika R Sinha, Mark A Garret, Kyra D Bowden, Koping Chang, Juan C Troncoso, Abhay Moghekar, Esther S Oh and 7 more

Erratum issuedOpen access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 114 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
114citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
45.8field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

114 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 128 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Clinical criteria for limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. TDP-43 dysfunction induces cryptic circular RNAs in ALS/FTD.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. G-Quadruplexes: Structural Diversity and Emerging Roles in Biomolecular Condensation.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026
    Review
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. TDP-43 Aggregation: The Healthy-Toxic Balance of the Prion-Like Domain.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026
    Review
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Intrathecal (GActa neuropathologica communications · 2026
    Article
  19. Article
  20. Article

54 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

17 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

Katherine E IrwinDepartment of Pathology, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-8941-4557
Pei JasinDepartment of Pathology, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Kerstin E BraunsteinDepartment of Pathology, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Irika R SinhaDepartment of Pathology, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-6440-7019
Mark A GarretSean M. Healey & AMG Center for ALS, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-3350-338X
Kyra D BowdenDepartment of Pathology, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Koping ChangDepartment of Pathology, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-7873-3640
Juan C TroncosoDepartment of Pathology, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Abhay MoghekarDepartment of Neurology, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-9464-1551
Esther S OhDepartment of Pathology, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Denitza RaitchevaBiogen, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Dan BartlettBiogen, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Timothy MillerDepartment of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.
James D BerrySean M. Healey & AMG Center for ALS, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0898-6081
Bryan J TraynorDepartment of Neurology, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0527-2446
Jonathan P LingDepartment of Pathology, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1927-9729
Philip C WongDepartment of Pathology, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. wong@jhmi.edu.ORCID 0000-0001-8162-3274
Johns Hopkins University · USBiogen (United States) · USMassachusetts General Hospital · USNational Institutes of Health · USWashington University in St. Louis · US

Funding

Research Education ComponentP30AG066507 · NIA · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI MARILYN S. ALBERT · 2020 to 2026
$29.3M
Medical Scientist Training ProgramT32GM136577 · NIGMS · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI ANDREA L COX · 2020 to 2026
$13.4M
Genome wide SNP analysis in Amyotrophic Lateral SclerosisZIAAG000933 · NIA · NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING · PI TRAYNOR, BRYAN · 2009 to 2025
$9.8M
TDP-43 Proteinopathy in ALS-FTD: Mechanism, Target Validation and BiomarkerR01NS095969 · NINDS · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI PHILIP C WONG · 2016 to 2026
$2.4M
Functional Validation of TDP-43 splicing repression for frontotemporal degenerationUH3NS115608 · NINDS · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI WONG, PHILIP C · 2021 to 2022
$2.2M
A diagnostic biomarker for amyotrophic lateral sclerosisU01FD008129 · FDA · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI BERRY, JAMES DALE, WONG, PHILIP C · 2023 to 2023
$1.6M
Generation and characterization of a mouse model exhibiting beta-amyloidosis and tauopathy with nuclear depletion of TDP-43R33NS115161 · NINDS · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI WONG, PHILIP C · 2022 to 2023
$1.3M
TDP-43 Proteinopathy in ALS-FTD: Mechanism, Target Validation and BiomarkerRF1NS095969 · NINDS · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI WONG, PHILIP C · 2023 to 2023
$1.2M
FDA HHS U01 FD008129Intramural NIH HHS ZIA AG000933NIA NIH HHS P30 AG066507NIGMS NIH HHS T32 GM136577NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS095969NINDS NIH HHS R33 NS115161NINDS NIH HHS RF1 NS095969NINDS NIH HHS UH3 NS115608
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Although loss of TAR DNA-binding protein 43 kDa (TDP-43) splicing repression is well documented in postmortem tissues of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), whether this abnormality occurs during early-stage disease remains unresolved. Cryptic exon inclusion reflects loss of function of TDP-43, and thus detection of proteins containing cryptic exon-encoded neoepitopes in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) or blood could reveal the earliest stages of TDP-43 dysregulation in patients. Here we use a newly characterized monoclonal antibody specific to a TDP-43-dependent cryptic epitope (encoded by the cryptic exon found in HDGFL2) to show that loss of TDP-43 splicing repression occurs in ALS-FTD, including in presymptomatic C9orf72 mutation carriers. Cryptic hepatoma-derived growth factor-like protein 2 (HDGFL2) accumulates in CSF at significantly higher levels in familial ALS-FTD and sporadic ALS compared with controls and is elevated earlier than neurofilament light and phosphorylated neurofilament heavy chain protein levels in familial disease. Cryptic HDGFL2 can also be detected in blood of individuals with ALS-FTD, including in presymptomatic C9orf72 mutation carriers, and accumulates at levels highly correlated with those in CSF. Our findings indicate that loss of TDP-43 cryptic splicing repression occurs early in disease progression, even presymptomatically, and that detection of the HDGFL2 cryptic neoepitope serves as a potential diagnostic biomarker for ALS, which should facilitate patient recruitment and measurement of target engagement in clinical trials.

Indexed as

Amyotrophic Lateral SclerosisFrontotemporal DementiaBiomarkersC9orf72 ProteinDNA-Binding ProteinsHumansBiomarkersC9orf72 ProteinDNA-Binding Proteins

Identifiers

PMID38278991
PMCPMC10878965
OpenAlexW4391258663

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.