Publications by authors named "Jakob Bader"

Motoneurons critically depend on precise spatial and temporal control of translation for axon growth and the establishment and maintenance of neuromuscular connections. While defects in local translation have been implicated in the pathogenesis of motoneuron disorders, little is known about the mechanisms regulating axonal protein synthesis. Here, we report that motoneurons derived from Hnrnpr knockout mice show reduced axon growth accompanied by lowered synthesis of cytoskeletal and synaptic components in axons.

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The neuronal RNA-binding protein Ptbp2 regulates neuronal differentiation by modulating alternative splicing programs in the nucleus. Such programs contribute to axonogenesis by adjusting the levels of protein isoforms involved in axon growth and branching. While its functions in alternative splicing have been described in detail, cytosolic roles of Ptbp2 for axon growth have remained elusive.

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Accurate biomarkers are a crucial and necessary precondition for precision medicine, yet existing ones are often unspecific and new ones have been very slow to enter the clinic. Mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics excels by its untargeted nature, specificity of identification, and quantification, making it an ideal technology for biomarker discovery and routine measurement. It has unique attributes compared to affinity binder technologies, such as OLINK Proximity Extension Assay and SOMAscan.

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High-grade adult-type diffuse gliomas are malignant neuroepithelial tumors with poor survival rates in combined chemoradiotherapy. The current WHO classification is based on IDH1/2 mutational and 1p/19q codeletion status. Glioma proteome alterations remain undercharacterized despite their promise for a better molecular patient stratification and therapeutic target identification.

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The evolutionarily conserved extended synaptotagmin (E-Syt) proteins are calcium-activated lipid transfer proteins that function at contacts between the ER and plasma membrane (ER-PM contacts). However, roles of the E-Syt family members in PM lipid organisation remain incomplete. Among the E-Syt family, the yeast tricalbin (Tcb) proteins are essential for PM integrity upon heat stress, but it is not known how they contribute to PM maintenance.

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Aggregation of the multifunctional RNA-binding protein TDP-43 defines large subgroups of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia and correlates with neurodegeneration in both diseases. In disease, characteristic C-terminal fragments of ~25 kDa ("TDP-25") accumulate in cytoplasmic inclusions. Here, we analyze gain-of-function mechanisms of TDP-25 combining cryo-electron tomography, proteomics, and functional assays.

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Neurons critically rely on the functions of RNA-binding proteins to maintain their polarity and resistance to neurotoxic stress. HnRNP R has a diverse range of post-transcriptional regulatory functions and is important for neuronal development by regulating axon growth. Hnrnpr pre-mRNA undergoes alternative splicing giving rise to a full-length protein and a shorter isoform lacking its N-terminal acidic domain.

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Gene expression requires tight coordination of the molecular machineries that mediate transcription and splicing. While the interplay between transcription kinetics and spliceosome fidelity has been investigated before, less is known about mechanisms regulating the assembly of the spliceosomal machinery in response to transcription changes. Here, we report an association of the Smn complex, which mediates spliceosomal snRNP biogenesis, with the 7SK complex involved in transcriptional regulation.

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Gene and protein expression data provide useful resources for understanding brain function, but little is known about the lipid composition of the brain. Here, we perform quantitative shotgun lipidomics, which enables a cell-type-resolved assessment of the mouse brain lipid composition. We quantify around 700 lipid species and evaluate lipid features including fatty acyl chain length, hydroxylation, and number of acyl chain double bonds, thereby identifying cell-type- and brain-region-specific lipid profiles in adult mice, as well as in aged mice, in apolipoprotein-E-deficient mice, in a model of Alzheimer's disease, and in mice fed different diets.

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Proteins carry out the vast majority of functions in all biological domains, but for technological reasons their large-scale investigation has lagged behind the study of genomes. Since the first essentially complete eukaryotic proteome was reported, advances in mass-spectrometry-based proteomics have enabled increasingly comprehensive identification and quantification of the human proteome. However, there have been few comparisons across species, in stark contrast with genomics initiatives.

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Neurodegenerative diseases are a growing burden, and there is an urgent need for better biomarkers for diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment efficacy. Structural and functional brain alterations are reflected in the protein composition of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients have higher CSF levels of tau, but we lack knowledge of systems-wide changes of CSF protein levels that accompany AD.

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Background: Phosphoinositide lipids provide spatial landmarks during polarized cell growth and migration. Yet how phosphoinositide gradients are oriented in response to extracellular cues and environmental conditions is not well understood. Here, we elucidate an unexpected mode of phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate (PI4P) regulation in the control of polarized secretion.

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Plasma and serum are rich sources of information regarding an individual's health state, and protein tests inform medical decision making. Despite major investments, few new biomarkers have reached the clinic. Mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics now allows highly specific and quantitative readout of the plasma proteome.

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Huntington's disease (HD) is a devastating hereditary movement disorder, characterized by degeneration of neurons in the striatum and cortex. Studies in human patients and mouse HD models suggest that disturbances of neuronal function in the neocortex play an important role in disease onset and progression. However, the precise nature and time course of cortical alterations in HD have remained elusive.

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Frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients with mutation show cytoplasmic poly-GR and poly-PR aggregates. Short poly-(Gly-Arg) and poly-(Pro-Arg) (poly-GR/PR) repeats localizing to the nucleolus are toxic in various model systems, but no interactors have been validated in patients. Here, the neuronal interactomes of cytoplasmic GFP-(GR) and nucleolar (PR)-GFP revealed overlapping RNA-binding proteins, including components of stress granules, nucleoli, and ribosomes.

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Membrane lipid dynamics must be precisely regulated for normal cellular function, and disruptions in lipid homeostasis are linked to the progression of several diseases. However, little is known about the sensory mechanisms for detecting membrane composition and how lipid metabolism is regulated in response to membrane stress. We find that phosphoinositide (PI) kinase signaling controls a conserved PDK-TORC2-Akt signaling cascade as part of a homeostasis network that allows the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to modulate essential responses, including Ca(2+)-regulated lipid biogenesis, upon plasma membrane (PM) stress.

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