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Kovacs GG, Robinson JL, Perl DP, Lee VMY, Trojanowski JQ. Thorn-shaped astrocytes in the depth of cortical sulci in Western Pacific ALS/Parkinsonism-Dementia complex. Acta Neuropathol 2020; 140:591-593. [PMID: 32662040 PMCID: PMC7986993 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-020-02192-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2020] [Revised: 07/02/2020] [Accepted: 07/03/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Gabor G Kovacs
- Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research (CNDR), Institute On Aging and Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 3600 Spruce Street, 3 Maloney Building, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-4283, USA.
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Disease (CRND), University of Toronto, Krembil Discovery Tower, 60 Leonard Ave, Toronto, ON, M5T 0S8, Canada.
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Laboratory Medicine Program, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.
| | - John L Robinson
- Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research (CNDR), Institute On Aging and Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 3600 Spruce Street, 3 Maloney Building, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-4283, USA
| | - Daniel P Perl
- Department of Pathology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA
| | - Virginia M-Y Lee
- Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research (CNDR), Institute On Aging and Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 3600 Spruce Street, 3 Maloney Building, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-4283, USA
| | - John Q Trojanowski
- Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research (CNDR), Institute On Aging and Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 3600 Spruce Street, 3 Maloney Building, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-4283, USA.
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2
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Vivacqua G, Biagioni F, Busceti CL, Ferrucci M, Madonna M, Ryskalin L, Yu S, D'Este L, Fornai F. Motor Neurons Pathology After Chronic Exposure to MPTP in Mice. Neurotox Res 2019; 37:298-313. [PMID: 31721049 DOI: 10.1007/s12640-019-00121-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2019] [Revised: 09/18/2019] [Accepted: 09/25/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The neurotoxin 1-methyl,4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropiridine (MPTP) is widely used to produce experimental parkinsonism in rodents and primates. Among different administration protocols, continuous or chronic exposure to small amounts of MPTP is reported to better mimic cell pathology reminiscent of Parkinson's disease (PD). Catecholamine neurons are the most sensitive to MPTP neurotoxicity; however, recent studies have found that MPTP alters the fine anatomy of the spinal cord including motor neurons, thus overlapping again with the spinal cord involvement documented in PD. In the present study, we demonstrate that chronic exposure to low amounts of MPTP (10 mg/kg daily, × 21 days) significantly reduces motor neurons in the ventral lumbar spinal cord while increasing α-synuclein immune-staining within the ventral horn. Spinal cord involvement in MPTP-treated mice extends to Calbindin D28 KDa immune-reactive neurons other than motor neurons within lamina VII. These results were obtained in the absence of significant reduction of dopaminergic cell bodies in the Substantia Nigra pars compacta, while a slight decrease was documented in striatal tyrosine hydroxylase immune-staining. Thus, the present study highlights neuropathological similarities between dopaminergic neurons and spinal motor neurons and supports the pathological involvement of spinal cord in PD and experimental MPTP-induced parkinsonism. Remarkably, the toxic threshold for motor neurons appears to be lower compared with nigral dopaminergic neurons following a chronic pattern of MPTP intoxication. This sharply contrasts with previous studies showing that MPTP intoxication produces comparable neuronal loss within spinal cord and Substantia Nigra.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giorgio Vivacqua
- Department of Anatomy, Histology, Forensic Medicine and Locomotor Sciences, Via A. Borelli 50, 00161, Rome, Italy
- Department of Neurobiology, Xuan Wu Hospital, Capital University of Medical Sciences, 45 Changchun St, Beijing, 100053, China
| | | | | | - Michela Ferrucci
- Department of Traslational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, via Roma 55, 56126, Pisa, Italy
| | | | - Larisa Ryskalin
- Department of Traslational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, via Roma 55, 56126, Pisa, Italy
| | - Shun Yu
- Department of Neurobiology, Xuan Wu Hospital, Capital University of Medical Sciences, 45 Changchun St, Beijing, 100053, China
| | - Loredana D'Este
- Department of Anatomy, Histology, Forensic Medicine and Locomotor Sciences, Via A. Borelli 50, 00161, Rome, Italy
| | - Francesco Fornai
- I.R.C.C.S. Neuromed, Via Atinense, 18, Pozzilli, Italy.
- Department of Traslational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, via Roma 55, 56126, Pisa, Italy.
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3
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Metcalf JS, Dunlop RA, Powell JT, Banack SA, Cox PA. L-Serine: a Naturally-Occurring Amino Acid with Therapeutic Potential. Neurotox Res 2017; 33:213-221. [PMID: 28929385 DOI: 10.1007/s12640-017-9814-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2017] [Revised: 08/25/2017] [Accepted: 09/05/2017] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
In human neuroblastoma cell cultures, non-human primates and human beings, L-serine is neuroprotective, acting through a variety of biochemical and molecular mechanisms. Although L-serine is generally classified as a non-essential amino acid, it is probably more appropriate to term it as a "conditional non-essential amino acid" since, under certain circumstances, vertebrates cannot synthesize it in sufficient quantities to meet necessary cellular demands. L-serine is biosynthesized in the mammalian central nervous system from 3-phosphoglycerate and serves as a precursor for the synthesis of the amino acids glycine and cysteine. Physiologically, it has a variety of roles, perhaps most importantly as a phosphorylation site in proteins. Mutations in the metabolic enzymes that synthesize L-serine have been implicated in various human diseases. Dosing of animals with L-serine and human clinical trials investigating the therapeutic effects of L-serine support the FDA's determination that L-serine is generally regarded as safe (GRAS); it also appears to be neuroprotective. We here consider the role of L-serine in neurological disorders and its potential as a therapeutic agent.
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Affiliation(s)
- J S Metcalf
- Brain Chemistry Labs, The Institute for Ethnomedicine, Jackson, 83001, WY, USA
| | - R A Dunlop
- Brain Chemistry Labs, The Institute for Ethnomedicine, Jackson, 83001, WY, USA
| | - J T Powell
- Brain Chemistry Labs, The Institute for Ethnomedicine, Jackson, 83001, WY, USA
| | - S A Banack
- Brain Chemistry Labs, The Institute for Ethnomedicine, Jackson, 83001, WY, USA
| | - P A Cox
- Brain Chemistry Labs, The Institute for Ethnomedicine, Jackson, 83001, WY, USA.
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4
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Crary JF, Trojanowski JQ, Schneider JA, Abisambra JF, Abner EL, Alafuzoff I, Arnold SE, Attems J, Beach TG, Bigio EH, Cairns NJ, Dickson DW, Gearing M, Grinberg LT, Hof PR, Hyman BT, Jellinger K, Jicha GA, Kovacs GG, Knopman DS, Kofler J, Kukull WA, Mackenzie IR, Masliah E, McKee A, Montine TJ, Murray ME, Neltner JH, Santa-Maria I, Seeley WW, Serrano-Pozo A, Shelanski ML, Stein T, Takao M, Thal DR, Toledo JB, Troncoso JC, Vonsattel JP, White CL, Wisniewski T, Woltjer RL, Yamada M, Nelson PT. Primary age-related tauopathy (PART): a common pathology associated with human aging. Acta Neuropathol 2014; 128:755-66. [PMID: 25348064 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-014-1349-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 969] [Impact Index Per Article: 96.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2014] [Revised: 09/26/2014] [Accepted: 09/28/2014] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
We recommend a new term, "primary age-related tauopathy" (PART), to describe a pathology that is commonly observed in the brains of aged individuals. Many autopsy studies have reported brains with neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) that are indistinguishable from those of Alzheimer's disease (AD), in the absence of amyloid (Aβ) plaques. For these "NFT+/Aβ-" brains, for which formal criteria for AD neuropathologic changes are not met, the NFTs are mostly restricted to structures in the medial temporal lobe, basal forebrain, brainstem, and olfactory areas (bulb and cortex). Symptoms in persons with PART usually range from normal to amnestic cognitive changes, with only a minority exhibiting profound impairment. Because cognitive impairment is often mild, existing clinicopathologic designations, such as "tangle-only dementia" and "tangle-predominant senile dementia", are imprecise and not appropriate for most subjects. PART is almost universally detectable at autopsy among elderly individuals, yet this pathological process cannot be specifically identified pre-mortem at the present time. Improved biomarkers and tau imaging may enable diagnosis of PART in clinical settings in the future. Indeed, recent studies have identified a common biomarker profile consisting of temporal lobe atrophy and tauopathy without evidence of Aβ accumulation. For both researchers and clinicians, a revised nomenclature will raise awareness of this extremely common pathologic change while providing a conceptual foundation for future studies. Prior reports that have elucidated features of the pathologic entity we refer to as PART are discussed, and working neuropathological diagnostic criteria are proposed.
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McCluskey LF, Geser F, Elman LB, Van Deerlin VM, Robinson JL, Lee VMY, Trojanowski JQ. Atypical Alzheimer's disease in an elderly United States resident with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and pathological tau in spinal motor neurons. Amyotroph Lateral Scler Frontotemporal Degener 2014; 15:466-72. [PMID: 24809433 DOI: 10.3109/21678421.2014.903973] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
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6
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Samantaray S, Knaryan VH, Shields DC, Banik NL. Critical role of calpain in spinal cord degeneration in Parkinson's disease. J Neurochem 2013; 127:880-90. [PMID: 23875735 DOI: 10.1111/jnc.12374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2013] [Revised: 06/26/2013] [Accepted: 07/05/2013] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
While multiple molecular mechanisms contribute to midbrain nigrostriatal dopaminergic degeneration in Parkinson's disease (PD), the mechanism of damage in non-dopaminergic sites within the central nervous system, including the spinal cord, is not well-understood. Thus, to understand the comprehensive pathophysiology underlying this devastating disease, postmortem spinal cord tissue samples (cervical, thoracic, and lumbar segments) from patients with PD were analyzed compared to age-matched normal subjects or Alzheimer's disease for selective molecular markers of neurodegeneration and inflammation. Distal axonal degeneration, relative abundance of both sensory and motor neuron death, selective loss of ChAT(+) motoneurons, reactive astrogliosis, microgliosis, increased cycloxygenase-2 (Cox-2) expression, and infiltration of T cells were observed in spinal cord of PD patients compared to normal subjects. Biochemical analyses of spinal cord tissues revealed associated inflammatory and proteolytic events (elevated levels of Cox-2, expression and activity of μ- and m-calpain, degradation of axonal neurofilament protein, and concomitantly low levels of endogenous inhibitor - calpastatin) in spinal cord of PD patients. Thus, pathologically upregulated calpain activity in spinal cords of patients with PD may contribute to inflammatory response-mediated neuronal death, leading to motor dysfunction. We proposed calpain over-activation and calpain-calpastatin dysregulation driving in a cascade of inflammatory responses (microglial activation and T cell infiltration) and degenerative pathways culminating in axonal degeneration and neuronal death in spinal cord of Parkinson's disease patients. This may be one of the crucial mechanisms in the degenerative process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Supriti Samantaray
- Department of Neurosciences, Medical University of South Carolina, 96 Jonathan Lucas Street, Suite 309 CSB, P.O. Box 250606, Charleston, SC, 29425, USA
| | - Varduhi H Knaryan
- Department of Neurosciences, Medical University of South Carolina, 96 Jonathan Lucas Street, Suite 309 CSB, P.O. Box 250606, Charleston, SC, 29425, USA
| | - Donald C Shields
- Department of Neurosurgery, The George Washington University, 2150 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 7-420, Washington, DC, 20037, USA
| | - Naren L Banik
- Department of Neurosciences, Medical University of South Carolina, 96 Jonathan Lucas Street, Suite 309 CSB, P.O. Box 250606, Charleston, SC, 29425, USA
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7
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Loss of spinal motor neurons and alteration of alpha-synuclein immunostaining in MPTP induced Parkinsonism in mice. J Chem Neuroanat 2012; 44:76-85. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jchemneu.2012.04.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2012] [Revised: 04/29/2012] [Accepted: 04/30/2012] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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8
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Vivacqua G, Casini A, Vaccaro R, Salvi EP, Pasquali L, Fornai F, Yu S, D’Este L. Spinal cord and parkinsonism: Neuromorphological evidences in humans and experimental studies. J Chem Neuroanat 2011; 42:327-40. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jchemneu.2011.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2010] [Revised: 02/20/2011] [Accepted: 03/01/2011] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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9
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Yata K, Oikawa S, Sasaki R, Shindo A, Yang R, Murata M, Kanamaru K, Tomimoto H. Astrocytic neuroprotection through induction of cytoprotective molecules; a proteomic analysis of mutant P301S tau-transgenic mouse. Brain Res 2011; 1410:12-23. [PMID: 21803337 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2011.06.064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2011] [Revised: 05/30/2011] [Accepted: 06/29/2011] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Hyperphosphorylated tau protein constitutes a significant portion of intracellular inclusions in some neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, mutations in tau protein cause familial forms of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), indicating that dysfunction of tau protein is responsible for neurodegeneration and dementia. P301S tau-transgenic (Tg) mouse expressing human mutant tau in neurons exhibits similar features of human tauopathies including neuronal degeneration and filament accumulation consisted of hyperphosphorylated tau protein. In the present study, we attempted to characterize protein expression profiles in P301S tau-Tg mouse by using two-dimensional differential in-gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) coupled by peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF). As a result, we identified four upregulated proteins; heat shock protein 27 (Hsp27), peroxiredoxin 6 (Prdx6), apolipoprotein E (ApoE), and latexin (LTXN), all of which may function as a neuroprotective mechanism against tau toxicity. In immunohistochemistry, these four proteins were increased invariably in astrocytes, and these astrocytes infiltrated the area in which there are numerous accumulations of hyperphosphorylated tau and neuronal loss. Therefore, these results may indicate that astrocytes provide a neuroprotective mechanism against tau toxicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenichiro Yata
- Department of Neurology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Tsu 514-8507, Japan.
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11
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LeBlanc AC. Introspective analysis of amyloid as the cause of Alzheimer’s disease: alternative model proposed. FUTURE NEUROLOGY 2008. [DOI: 10.2217/14796708.3.5.527] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
As the lifespan of the population of developed countries increases, we are faced with managing a disease that is taking almost epidemic proportions and has a high social and economical cost; Alzheimer’s disease (AD). As everyone knows, AD robs the person not only of their memories but also their personalities and leaves only the shell of a once vibrant and functional human being that now requires care 24-h a day. Similar to the race to prevent, treat or cure cancer and heart diseases, it is essential and of extreme urgency to spearhead efforts against AD. To date, there are no effective treatments against AD. Amyloid is largely favored as the cause of the disease. Immense resources and efforts have been dedicated to anti-amyloid therapies and we are at the cusp of finding out if these will work of not. However, the arguments supporting the amyloid hypothesis can be challenged and an alternate model is presented herein.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andréa C LeBlanc
- The Sir Mortimer B Davis Jewish General Hospital, The Bloomfield Center for Research in Aging, Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, 3755 Ch. Côte Ste-Catherine, Montréal, Québec H3T 1E2, Canada and, Department of Neurology & Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
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12
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Geser F, Winton MJ, Kwong LK, Xu Y, Xie SX, Igaz LM, Garruto RM, Perl DP, Galasko D, Lee VMY, Trojanowski JQ. Pathological TDP-43 in parkinsonism-dementia complex and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis of Guam. Acta Neuropathol 2008; 115:133-45. [PMID: 17713769 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-007-0257-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 146] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2007] [Revised: 06/14/2007] [Accepted: 06/15/2007] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Pathological TDP-43 is the major disease protein in frontotemporal lobar degeneration characterized by ubiquitin inclusions (FTLD-U) with/without motor neuron disease (MND) and in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). As Guamanian parkinsonism-dementia complex (PDC) or Guamanian ALS (G-PDC or G-ALS) of the Chamorro population may present clinically similar to FTLD-U and ALS, TDP-43 pathology may be present in the G-PDC and G-ALS. Thus, we examined cortical or spinal cord samples from 54 Guamanian subjects for evidence of TDP-43 pathology. In addition to cortical neurofibrillary and glial tau pathology, G-PDC was associated with cortical TDP-43 positive dystrophic neurites and neuronal and glial inclusions in gray and/or white matter. Biochemical analyses showed the presence of FTLD-U-like insoluble TDP-43 in G-PDC, but not in Guam controls (G-C). Spinal cord pathology of G-PDC or G-ALS was characterized by tau positive tangles as well as TDP-43 positive inclusions in lower motor neurons and glial cells. G-C had variable tau and negligible TDP-43 pathology. These results indicate that G-PDC and G-ALS are associated with pathological TDP-43 similar to FTLD-U with/without MND as well as ALS, and that neocortical or hippocampal TDP-43 pathology distinguishes controls from disease subjects better than tau pathology. Finally, we conclude that the spectrum of TDP-43 proteinopathies should be expanded to include neurodegenerative cognitive and motor diseases, affecting the Chamorro population of Guam.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felix Geser
- Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Alzheimer's Disease Core Center, Institute on Aging, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-4283, USA
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13
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Crews L, Rockenstein E, Masliah E. Biological Transgenic Mouse Models of Alzheimer's Disease. HANDBOOK OF CLINICAL NEUROLOGY 2008; 89:291-301. [DOI: 10.1016/s0072-9752(07)01227-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
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14
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Shaw CA, Höglinger GU. Neurodegenerative diseases: neurotoxins as sufficient etiologic agents? Neuromolecular Med 2007; 10:1-9. [PMID: 17985252 DOI: 10.1007/s12017-007-8016-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2007] [Accepted: 10/09/2007] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
A dominant paradigm in neurological disease research is that the primary etiological factors for diseases such as Alzheimer's (AD), Parkinson's (PD), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are genetic. Opposed to this perspective are the clear observations from epidemiology that purely genetic casual factors account for a relatively small fraction of all cases. Many who support a genetic etiology for neurological disease take the view that while the percentages may be relatively small, these numbers will rise in the future with the inevitable discoveries of additional genetic mutations. The follow up argument is that even if the last is not true, the events triggered by the aberrant genes identified so far will be shown to impact the same neuronal cell death pathways as those activated by environmental factors that trigger most sporadic disease cases. In this article we present a countervailing view that environmental neurotoxins may be the sole sufficient factor in at least three neurological disease clusters. For each, neurotoxins have been isolated and characterized that, at least in animal models, faithfully reproduce each disorder without the need for genetic co-factors. Based on these data, we will propose a set of principles that would enable any potential toxin to be evaluated as an etiological factor in a given neurodegenerative disease. Finally, we will attempt to put environmental toxins into the context of possible genetically-determined susceptibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher A Shaw
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
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15
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Abstract
This study presents a new theory to explain the neural origins of human mind. This is the psychomotor theory. The author briefly analyzed the historical development of the mind-brain theories. The close relations between psychological and motor systems were subjected to a rather detailed analysis, using psychiatric and neurological examples. The feedback circuits between mind, brain, and body were shown to occur within the mind-brain-body triad, in normal states, and psycho-neural diseases. It was stated that psychiatric signs and symptoms are coupled with motor disturbances; neurological diseases are coupled with psychological disturbances; changes in cortico-spinal motor-system activity may influence mind-brain-body triad, and vice versa. Accordingly, a psychomotor theory was created to explain the psychomotor coupling in health and disease, stating that, not the mind-brain duality or unity, but the mind-brain-body triad as a functional unit may be essential in health and disease, because mind does not end in the brain, but further controls movements, in a reciprocal manner; mental and motor events share the same neural substrate, cortical, and spinal motoneurons; mental events emerging from the motoneuronal system expressed by the human language may be closely coupled with the unity of the mind-brain-body triad. So, the psychomotor theory rejects the mind-brain duality and instead advances the unity of the psychomotor system, which will have important consequences in understanding and improving the human mind, brain, and body in health and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Uner Tan
- Department of Physics, Cukurova University, Adana, Turkey.
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Julien JP, Kriz J. Chapter 6 Animal models of motor neuron death. HANDBOOK OF CLINICAL NEUROLOGY 2007; 82:121-138. [PMID: 18808891 DOI: 10.1016/s0072-9752(07)80009-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
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17
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Cruz-Aguado R, Winkler D, Shaw CA. Lack of behavioral and neuropathological effects of dietary beta-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) in mice. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2006; 84:294-9. [PMID: 16808967 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbb.2006.05.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2006] [Revised: 05/16/2006] [Accepted: 05/17/2006] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Beta-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) is an excitotoxin allegedly involved in ALS-parkinsonism-dementia complex (ALS-PDC), a neurological disorder found in Guam and its surrounding islands, in which motor neuron disease symptoms can present alone or can co-occur with parkinsonism and dementia. Although in vitro experiments have shown BMAA's neurotoxic properties, studies using adult animals and systemic administration which better model the case of environmentally-induced human neurodegenerative diseases have not supported the involvement of BMAA in these disorders. In order to better test the hypothesized role of BMAA in neurodegeneration, we fed adult mice BMAA at a dose (28 mg/kg body weight, daily for 30 days) that reproduces the natural levels and tested the animals with a battery of behavioural tests, the latter including the evaluation of motor coordination, motor neuron-mediated reflexes, locomotion, muscular strength and memory. We also assessed whether BMAA exposure triggers cell death in the central nervous system (CNS) of mice by examining neuronal numbers and glial response in the spinal cord and the brain. No motor, cognitive or neuropathological outcome resulted from this feeding paradigm. Our findings support neither the causal role of BMAA in neurodegeneration nor the specific involvement of this amino acid in ALS-PDC.
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Winton MJ, Joyce S, Zhukareva V, Practico D, Perl DP, Galasko D, Craig U, Trojanowski JQ, Lee VMY. Characterization of tau pathologies in gray and white matter of Guam parkinsonism-dementia complex. Acta Neuropathol 2006; 111:401-12. [PMID: 16609851 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-006-0053-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2005] [Revised: 02/05/2006] [Accepted: 02/05/2006] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Guam parkinsonism-dementia complex (PDC) is a neurodegenerative tauopathy in ethnic Chamorro residents of the Mariana Islands that manifests clinically with parkinsonism as well as dementia and is characterized neuropathologically by prominent cortical neuron loss in association with extensive telencephalic neurofibrillary tau pathology. To further characterize cortical gray and white matter tau, alpha-synuclein and lipid peroxidation pathologies in Guam PDC, we examined the brains of 17 Chamorro PDC and control subjects using biochemical and immunohistological techniques. We observed insoluble tau pathology in both gray and white matter of PDC and Guam control cases, with frontal and temporal lobes being most severely affected. Using phosphorylation dependent anti-tau antibodies, abundant tau inclusions were detected by immunohistochemistry in both neuronal and glial cells of the neocortex, while less alpha-synuclein pathology was observed in more limited brain regions. Further, in sharp contrast to Alzheimer's disease (AD), levels of the lipid peroxidation product 8, 12-iso-iPF(2alpha)-VI isoprostane were not elevated in Guam PDC brains relative to controls. Thus, although the tau pathologies of Guam PDC share similarities with AD, the composite Guam PDC neuropathology profile of tau, alpha-synuclein and 8, 12-iso-iPF(2alpha)-VI isoprostane reported here more closely resembles that seen in other tauopathies including frontotemporal dementias (FTDs), which may imply that Guam PDC and FTD tauopathies share underlying mechanisms of neurodegeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J Winton
- The Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104-4283, USA
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19
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Julien JP, Kriz J. Transgenic mouse models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Basis Dis 2006; 1762:1013-24. [PMID: 16675207 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbadis.2006.03.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 93] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2006] [Revised: 03/21/2006] [Accepted: 03/21/2006] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The discovery of missense mutations in the gene coding for the Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) in subsets of familial cases was rapidly followed by the generation of transgenic mice expressing various forms of SOD1 mutants. The mice overexpressing high levels of mutant SOD1 mRNAs do develop motor neuron disease but unraveling the mechanisms of pathogenesis has been very challenging. Studies with mouse lines suggest that the toxicity of mutant SOD1 is unrelated to copper-mediated catalysis but rather to propensity of a subfraction of mutant SOD1 proteins to form misfolded protein species and aggregates. However, the mechanism of toxicity of SOD1 mutants remains to be elucidated. Involvement of cytoskeletal components in ALS pathogenesis is supported by several mouse models of motor neuron disease with neurofilament abnormalities and with genetic defects in microtubule-based transport. Here, we describe how transgenic mouse models have been used for understanding pathogenic pathways of motor neuron disease and for pre-clinical drug testing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean-Pierre Julien
- Research Centre of CHUL, Department of Anatomy and Physiology of Laval University, 2705 Boulevard Laurier, Quebec, QC, Canada G1V 4G2.
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Yamazaki M, Hasegawa M, Mori O, Murayama S, Tsuchiya K, Ikeda K, Chen KM, Katayama Y, Oyanagi K. Tau-Positive Fine Granules in the Cerebral White Matter: A Novel Finding Among the Tauopathies Exclusive to Parkinsonism-Dementia Complex of Guam. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 2005; 64:839-46. [PMID: 16215455 DOI: 10.1097/01.jnen.0000182977.79483.89] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
We examined the autopsied brains of cases of 6 types of tauopathy: parkinsonism-dementia complex of Guam (PDC), corticobasal degeneration (CBD), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), Pick disease, Alzheimer disease (AD), and myotonic dystrophy together with Guamanian controls. Light microscopy sections of these brains were examined using anti-tau antibodies. Tau-positive fine granules (TFGs) were globe-shaped, and 3 to 6 mum in diameter, were observed predominantly in the frontal white matter in 30 of the 35 patients with PDC. However, no TFGs were found in association with PSP, myotonic dystrophy, Pick disease, AD, or CBD. Western blot analysis of frozen brain tissue taken from the PDC cases revealed that the frontal cortex was hyperphosphorylated and contained 6 tau isoforms (3R+4R tau). However, in the present study, it was revealed that the novel TFGs in the white matter of patients with PDC was composed of 4R tau. Western blot analysis of sarkosyl-insoluble tau from the white matter of the PDC cases showed 2 major bands of 60 and 64 kDa and one minor band of 67 kDa. After dephosphorylation, these bands resolved into one major band of 4-repeat (4R) tau isoform and 3 minor bands of 3-repeat (3R) and 4R tau isoforms. Moreover, the TFGs observed in cases in which the number of neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) was higher than the threshold level were not correlated with the presence of cortical NFTs. In conclusion, these novel TFGs were found almost exclusively in PDC brains and could therefore be considered as a characteristic neuropathologic marker of this particular tauopathy. The TFGs were hyperphosphorylated tau-positive structures that may be formed by a different mechanism from that used to produce cortical NFTs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mineo Yamazaki
- Department of Neuropathology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Neuroscience, Fuchu-shi, Tokyo, Japan.
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21
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Lee VMY, Kenyon TK, Trojanowski JQ. Transgenic animal models of tauopathies. Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Basis Dis 2005; 1739:251-9. [PMID: 15615643 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbadis.2004.06.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 98] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2004] [Accepted: 06/17/2004] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Tauopathies are a group of neurodegenerative disorders that include Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17 (FTDP-17) and other related diseases with prominent tau pathology. Research advances in the last several decades have characterized and defined tau neuropathologies of both neuron and glia in these diverse disorders and this has stimulated development of animal models of tauopathies. Indeed, animal models ranging from invertebrate species such as C. elegan to Drosophila melanogaster and mammalian transgenic mouse models of tauopathies have been generated and reported. This review summarizes the salient features of many of the known models of tauopathies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Virginia M-Y Lee
- University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Pathology, 3600 Spruce Street, HUP, 3rd Floor Maloney Building 1914104-4283, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
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22
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Roy S, Zhang B, Lee VMY, Trojanowski JQ. Axonal transport defects: a common theme in neurodegenerative diseases. Acta Neuropathol 2005; 109:5-13. [PMID: 15645263 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-004-0952-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 249] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2004] [Accepted: 09/09/2004] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
A core pathology central to most neurodegenerative diseases is the misfolding, fibrillization and aggregation of disease proteins to form the hallmark lesions of specific disorders. The mechanisms underlying these brain-specific neurodegenerative amyloidoses are the focus of intense investigation and defective axonal transport has been hypothesized to play a mechanistic role in several neurodegenerative disorders; however, this hypothesis has not been extensively examined. Discoveries of mutations in human genes encoding motor proteins responsible for axonal transport do provide direct evidence for the involvement of axonal transport in neurodegenerative diseases, and this evidence is supported by studies of animal models of neurodegeneration. In this review, we summarize recent findings related to axonal transport and neurodegeneration. Focusing on specific neurodegenerative diseases from a neuropathologic perspective, we highlight discoveries of human motor protein mutations in some of these diseases, as well as illustrate new insights from animal models of neurodegenerative disorders. We also review the current understanding of the biology of axonal transport including major recent findings related to slow axonal transport.
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Affiliation(s)
- Subhojit Roy
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, 19104-4283, USA
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23
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Adlard PA, Cummings BJ. Alzheimer’s disease—a sum greater than its parts? Neurobiol Aging 2004; 25:725-33; discussion 743-6. [PMID: 15165695 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2003.12.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2003] [Accepted: 12/10/2003] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Paul A Adlard
- Institute for Brain Aging and Dementia, University of California, 1113 Gillespie N.R.F., Irvine, CA 92697-4540, USA.
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24
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Giasson BI, Lee VMY, Trojanowski JQ. Animal models of neurodegenerative dementing disorders other than Alzheimer's disease. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2004. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cnr.2004.04.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
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25
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Stefani M, Dobson CM. Protein aggregation and aggregate toxicity: new insights into protein folding, misfolding diseases and biological evolution. J Mol Med (Berl) 2003; 81:678-99. [PMID: 12942175 DOI: 10.1007/s00109-003-0464-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1209] [Impact Index Per Article: 57.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2003] [Accepted: 06/03/2003] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
The deposition of proteins in the form of amyloid fibrils and plaques is the characteristic feature of more than 20 degenerative conditions affecting either the central nervous system or a variety of peripheral tissues. As these conditions include Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and the prion diseases, several forms of fatal systemic amyloidosis, and at least one condition associated with medical intervention (haemodialysis), they are of enormous importance in the context of present-day human health and welfare. Much remains to be learned about the mechanism by which the proteins associated with these diseases aggregate and form amyloid structures, and how the latter affect the functions of the organs with which they are associated. A great deal of information concerning these diseases has emerged, however, during the past 5 years, much of it causing a number of fundamental assumptions about the amyloid diseases to be re-examined. For example, it is now apparent that the ability to form amyloid structures is not an unusual feature of the small number of proteins associated with these diseases but is instead a general property of polypeptide chains. It has also been found recently that aggregates of proteins not associated with amyloid diseases can impair the ability of cells to function to a similar extent as aggregates of proteins linked with specific neurodegenerative conditions. Moreover, the mature amyloid fibrils or plaques appear to be substantially less toxic than the pre-fibrillar aggregates that are their precursors. The toxicity of these early aggregates appears to result from an intrinsic ability to impair fundamental cellular processes by interacting with cellular membranes, causing oxidative stress and increases in free Ca2+ that eventually lead to apoptotic or necrotic cell death. The 'new view' of these diseases also suggests that other degenerative conditions could have similar underlying origins to those of the amyloidoses. In addition, cellular protection mechanisms, such as molecular chaperones and the protein degradation machinery, appear to be crucial in the prevention of disease in normally functioning living organisms. It also suggests some intriguing new factors that could be of great significance in the evolution of biological molecules and the mechanisms that regulate their behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Massimo Stefani
- Department of Biochemical Sciences, University of Florence, Viale Morgagni 50, 50134 Florence, Italy.
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26
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Trojanowski JQ. Rotenone neurotoxicity: a new window on environmental causes of Parkinson's disease and related brain amyloidoses. Exp Neurol 2003; 179:6-8. [PMID: 12504862 DOI: 10.1006/exnr.2002.8082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- John Q Trojanowski
- Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
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