Ashleigh Schaffer, assistant professor in the Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, published a research article, titled “Suppression of Premature Transcription Termination Leads to Reduced mRNA Isoform Diversity and Neurodegeneration,” in Neuron.
Schaffer and other lab members used motor neuron disease models to examine CLP1 function in mRNA 3′ end formation. CLP1 suppresses proximal polyadenylation to regulate mRNA isoform balance and maintain neuronal health. The findings showed that diminished isoform diversity is a signature of neurodegenerative disease.