Limone, FrancescoGuerra San Juan, IruneBurberry, AaronKirchner, RoryChen, KuchuanEggan, KevinKlim, JosephWilliams, LuisDavis-Dusenbery, Brandi NMordes, DanielSteinbaugh, MichaelGamage, KanchanaMoccia, RobCassel, SethWainger, BrianWoolf, Clifford2020-03-062019-01-14Klim, Joseph R., Luis A. Williams, Francesco Limone, Irune Guerra San Juan, Brandi N. Davis-Dusenbery, Daniel A. Mordes, Aaron Burberry, Michael J. Steinbaugh, Kanchana K. Gamage, Rory Kirchner, Rob Moccia, Seth H. Cassel, Kuchuan Chen, Brian J. Wainger, Clifford J. Woolf, and Kevin Eggan. 2019. ALS-implicated Protein TDP-43 Sustains Levels of STMN2, a Mediator of Motor Neuron Growth and Repair. Nature Neuroscience 22: 167–179.1097-62561546-1726http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:42589385The discovery that TDP-43 mutations cause familial ALS and that many patients display pathological TDP-43 mislocalization has nominated altered RNA metabolism as a potential disease mechanism. Despite its importance, the identity of RNAs regulated by TDP-43 in motor neurons remains poorly understood. Here, we report transcripts whose abundances in human motor neurons are sensitive to TDP-43 depletion. Notably, we found STMN2, which encodes a microtubule regulator, declined after TDP-43 knockdown, in patient-specific motor neurons, following TDP-43 mislocalization, and in the postmortem patient spinal cords. Loss of STMN2 upon reduced TDP-43 function was due to the emergence of a cryptic exon, which is of substantial functional importance, as we further demonstrate that STMN2 is necessary for both axonal outgrowth and repair. Importantly, post-translational stabilization of STMN2 could rescue neurite outgrowth and axon regeneration deficits induced by TDP-43 depletion. We propose restoring STMN2 expression warrants future examination as an ALS therapeutic strategy.en-USGeneral NeuroscienceJournal Article2020-03-0610.1038/s41593-018-0300-4