TARDBP and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: The discovery of mutations in the gene encoding TDP-43 (TARDBP), in familial and rare sporadic cases of ALS provided a critical link between TDP-43 genetic variants, pathology, and ALS pathogenesis (Gitcho et al., 2008; Kabashi et al., 2008; Sreedharan et al., 2008; Corrado et al., 2009).