Kuchuan Chen

Editor’s summary Abstract Supplementary Materials REFERENCES AND NOTES Information & Authors Metrics & Citations Check Access References Figures Tables Media Share Editor’s summary TAR DNA binding protein 43 (TDP-43) loss of function (LOF) is a critical feature of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and other neurodegenerative diseases. TDP-43 LOF leads to cryptic exons in certain mRNAs, affecting protein function. Here, Guo et al.

Mutations in PLA2G6 (PARK14) cause neurodegenerative disorders in humans, including autosomal recessive neuroaxonal dystrophy and early-onset parkinsonism. We show that loss of iPLA2-VIA, the fly homolog of PLA2G6, reduces lifespan, impairs synaptic transmission, and causes neurodegeneration. Phospholipases typically hydrolyze glycerol phospholipids, but loss of iPLA2-VIA does not affect the phospholipid composition of brain tissue but rather causes an elevation in ceramides.