Christopher “Chris” Donnelly, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Endowed Title: Patricia A. Smith Distinguished Chair in Neuromuscular Disease Research, in honor of Gil Wolfe, M.D.
Schools: Medical School
Departments: Neurology | Odonnell Brain Institute

Publications

A cytoplasmic turn in TDP-43 toxicity: Donnelly CJ Neuron 2026 Jun 114 1879-1880
Short RNA chaperones promote aggregation-resistant TDP-43 conformers to mitigate neurodegeneration: Copley KE, Mauna JC, Danielson HL, Chen Q, Ozguney B, Ngo M, Xie L, Smirnov A, Davis M, Mayne L, Linsenmeier M, Rubien JD, Bergmann CA, Portz B, Lee BL, Odeh HM, Lai L, Chang YW, Hallegger M, Ule J, Pasinelli P, Poon Y, Mittal J, Fawzi NL, Black BE, Donnelly CJ, Jensen BK, Shorter J Science 2026 May 392
TDP-43 dysfunction compromises UPF1-dependent mRNA metabolism in ALS: Alessandrini F, Wright M, Kurosaki T, Perloff OS, Ngo M, Kofler JK, Donnelly CJ, Maquat LE, Kiskinis E Neuron 2026 Feb 114 640-660.e10
Defining RNA oligonucleotides that reverse deleterious phase transitions of RNA-binding proteins with prion-like domains: Guo L, Mann JR, Mauna JC, Copley KE, Wang H, Rubien JD, Bergmann CA, Carey JL, Merjane J, Ngo M, Xu J, Odeh HM, Lin JB, Lee BL, Ganser L, Robinson E, Kim KM, Murthy AC, Paul T, Portz B, Gleixner AM, Diaz Z, Smirnov A, Padilla G, Lavorando E, Espy C, Shang Y, Huang EJ, Chesi A, Fawzi NL, Myong S, Donnelly CJ, Shorter J Molecular cell 2026 Jan 86 114-134.e10
Novel Kinesin Family Member 1A Variants Linked to Atypical Parkinsonism Elicit Altered Neuronal Transactive Response DNA Binding Protein 43 kDa Interactions and Dendritic Atrophy: Homayoun H, DeChellis-Marks MR, Kofler J, Fricklas G, Gleixner AM, Yeh FC, Lacomis D, Chu CT, Donnelly CJ American Journal of Pathology 2025 Nov 195 2161-2175
Erratum: Opposing roles of p38α-mediated phosphorylation and PRMT1-mediated arginine methylation in driving TDP-43 proteinopathy (Cell Reports (2025) 44(1), (S2211124724015560), (10.1016/j.celrep.2024.115205)): Aikio M, Odeh HM, Wobst HJ, Lee BL, Chan Ú, Mauna JC, Mack KL, Class B, Ollerhead TA, Ford AF, Barbieri EM, Cupo RR, Drake LE, Smalley JL, Lin YT, Lam S, Thomas R, Castello N, Baral A, Beyer JN, Najar MA, Dunlop J, Gitler AD, Javaherian A, Kaye JA, Burslem GM, Brown DG, Donnelly CJ, Finkbeiner S, Moss SJ, Brandon NJ, Shorter J Cell Reports 2025 Mar 44
Assays to measure small molecule Hsp70 agonist activity in vitro and in vivo: Shapiro O, Woods C, Gleixner AM, Sannino S, Ngo M, McDaniels MD, Wipf P, Hukriede NA, Donnelly CJ, Brodsky JL Analytical biochemistry 2025 Feb 697
Opposing roles of p38α-mediated phosphorylation and PRMT1-mediated arginine methylation in driving TDP-43 proteinopathy: Aikio M, Odeh HM, Wobst HJ, Lee BL, Chan Ú, Mauna JC, Mack KL, Class B, Ollerhead TA, Ford AF, Barbieri EM, Cupo RR, Drake LE, Smalley JL, Lin YT, Lam S, Thomas R, Castello N, Baral A, Beyer JN, Najar MA, Dunlop J, Gitler AD, Javaherian A, Kaye JA, Burslem GM, Brown DG, Donnelly CJ, Finkbeiner S, Moss SJ, Brandon NJ, Shorter J Cell Reports 2025 Jan 44
Live-cell visualization of tau aggregation in human neurons: Hurtle B, Donnelly CJ, Zhang X, Thathiah A Communications Biology 2024 Dec 7
Case-control study of environmental toxins and risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis involving the national ALS registry: Talbott EO, Malek AM, Arena VC, Wu F, Steffes K, Sharma RK, Buchanich J, Rager JR, Bear T, Hoffman CA, Lacomis D, Donnelly C, Mauna J, Vena JE Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Degeneration 2024 25 533-542