Packard Center Investigators use CRISPR based knockdown to identify novel factors that modulate the subcellular distribution of CHMP7

In a new paper published in Neuron, Gene Yeo, PhD (University of California, San Diego), in collaboration with Packard Center founder, Dr. Jeffrey Rothstein and Packard Center investigator Dr. Alyssa Coyne used CRISPR based knockdown to identify novel factors that modulate the subcellular distribution of CHMP7. In doing so, they identified specific splicing complex proteins that when depleted can modulate the localization of CHMP7.

In addition, they found that CHMP7 itself is capable of binding to specific RNAs. Thus, collectively, this study supports altered RNA binding and processing as a modulator of protein localization in ALS, extending beyond RNA binding proteins themselves, to CHMP7, a protein involved in the homeostasis of the nuclear periphery.