Pathological signatures of CHCHD10 dysfunction in ADRDs

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Project Summary The CHCHD10 gene coding for a mitochondrial protein is mutated in familial and sporadic Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), and mixed FTD-ALS. The estimated prevalence of CHCHD10 mutations is 7.7% among FTD in the Chinese population and 0.68-2.6% among FTD-ALS patients of European descent, making CHCHD10 the second most frequently mutated gene in FTD and FTD-ALS. We know that the FTD-ALS CHCHD10S59L mutation and the ALS CHCHD10R15L mutation promotes CHCHD10 aggregation and mitochondrial dysfunction. However, as only 1 patient with CHCHD10 mutation (ALS-linked CHCHD10R15L) and no FTD patient with CHCHD10 mutation has come to autopsy, we do not know the pathological signatures of CHCHD10-driven pathogenesis and to what extent such signatures are present in sporadic diseases (i.e. FTD, FTD-ALS, AD). As misfolded proteins tend to clog and inhibit the proteasome, such misfolded and aggregation-prone proteins are frequently translocated into mitochondria as an alternative pathway for proteostasis. We recently generated transgenic (Tg) mice expressing wild type (WT) CHCHD10WT, CHCHD10R15L, or CHCHD10S59L driven by the neuronal mouse PrP promoter, which show clear pathophysiological phenotypes. By taking advantage of mouse models and human postmortem tissues together with molecular, biochemical, histochemical, proteomics, electrophysiological, and behavioral toolsets, this proposal will test the overarching hypothesis that the loss of endogenous CHCHD10 (as seen in sporadic ADRDs) and FTLD/ALS-linked CHCHD10 mutations drive diverse pathological signatures resulting from disruptions in mitochondrial proteostasis and autophagic clearance of proteotoxically challenged mitochondria, and that restoration of WT CHCHD10 represents a viable strategy to mitigate proteotoxic burden and disease outcomes. Aim 1 will define the role of wild type CHCHD10 in mitigating pathological phenotypes in vivo. Aim 2 will identify and validate the neuropathological signatures of FTLD/ALS-linked CHCHD10 mutations. Aim 3 will determine the role of mutant CHCHD10 in mitophagy flux in vivo.