Differential expression of WNT16 in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Abstract: Neurodegenerative diseases that affect the motor neurons, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), have little treatment options and are generally rapidly fatal (1, 2). We harnessed the power of unbiased, whole transcriptome differential gene expression analysis, utilizing primary patient cells and tissues to discover genes whose expression defines ALS using published data (3, 4). We found significant differential expression of WNT16, encoding Wnt family member 16, in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived motor neurons of patients with ALS. WNT16 was also differentially expressed in fibroblasts isolated from patients with ALS. WNT16 transcript was present at significantly higher levels in ALS iPSC-derived motor neurons. These analyses will begin to define the transcriptional landscape of ALS.