Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41720774›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

A neurotoxic cryptic peptide arising from TDP-43-dependent cryptic splicing of PKN1.

Mingming Yang, Qi Wang, Ruolan Yan, Dongkun Kang, Weihan Luo, Liti Zhang, Rong Liu, Liyong Wu, Jianlan Gu, Xiaochuan Wang

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. TDP-43: [GU]-ardian of the transcriptome.Molecular neurodegeneration · 2026
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Mingming Yang *Hubei Key Laboratory of Cognitive and Affective Disorders, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Jianghan University, Wuhan, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0000-9161-9420
Qi Wang *Department of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0003-8261-8153
Ruolan Yan *Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Medicine, Nantong University, Nantong, China.
Dongkun KangDepartment of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Weihan LuoState Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
Liti ZhangDepartment of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Medicine, Nantong University, Nantong, China.
Rong LiuDepartment of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
Liyong WuDepartment of Neurology, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China. wmywly@hotmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1251-6130
Jianlan GuDepartment of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Medicine, Nantong University, Nantong, China. ntgjlan@ntu.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7277-916X
Xiaochuan WangHubei Key Laboratory of Cognitive and Affective Disorders, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, Jianghan University, Wuhan, China. wangxiaochuan@jhun.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8207-0042

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Dysfunction of transactive response DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) drives neurodegeneration in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Alzheimer's disease (AD), in part through inducing aberrant RNA splicing. However, whether such mis-splicing yields stable, pathogenic proteins remains unclear. Here, we identify a TDP-43-repressed cryptic exon in Protein kinase N1 (PKN1), designated PKN1-5a1, which is activated in ALS patient brains and introduces a premature termination codon. This aberrant transcript escapes nonsense-mediated decay and is translated into a truncated peptide, PKN1-N207 (PKN207), detectable in AD brains with TDP-43 pathology. In mice, PKN207 impairs cognition, memory, and synaptic plasticity. Our findings demonstrate that TDP-43 loss-induced cryptic splicing can generate stable neurotoxic polypeptides, revealing a peptide-mediated mechanism in TDP-43 proteinopathies.

Indexed as

Alzheimer DiseaseAmyotrophic Lateral SclerosisDNA-Binding ProteinsPeptidesRNA SplicingAnimalsBrainExonsFemaleHumansMiceDNA-Binding ProteinsPeptidesTARDBP protein, human

Identifiers

PMID41720774
PMCPMC13035944

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.