Dr P. Fratta

 Identifying motor neuron specific RNA in vivo, in ALS

(with Lizzy Fisher, UCL ION)

Aim: to identify cell-specific transcription changes occurring in mice models of ALS at different disease stages.

Our collaborator, Chris Q Doe, has developed a technique, TU-tagging, which through the cell-specific expression of an enzyme (UPRT) and the treatment with a drug (4TU), allows incorporation of thio-uridine into RNA in specific cell types. Thio-uridine allows to biotinylate and then pull-down the specific RNA. The Doe laboratory has successfully shown that by using this technique, it is possible to isolate and sequence RNA species from neuronal subtypes in drosophila and in mouse.
We are using this tagging technique to isolate and identify RNA specifically from MN cell bodies, dendrites and axons.