Hind limb muscle atrophy precedes cerebral neuronal degeneration in G93A-SOD1 mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a longitudinal MRI study.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive, fatal, neurodegenerative disorder caused by the degeneration of motor neurons in the CNS, which results in complete paralysis of skeletal muscles. Recent experimental studies have suggested that the disease could initiate in skeletal muscle, rather than in the motor neurons. To establish the timeframe of motor neuron degeneration in relation to muscle atrophy in motor neuron disease, we have used MRI to monitor changes throughout disease in brain and skeletal muscle of G93A-SOD1 mice, a purported model of ALS. Longitudinal MRI examination of the same animals indicated that muscle volume in the G93A-SOD1 mice was significantly reduced from as early as week 8 of life, 4 weeks prior to clinical onset. Progressive muscle atrophy from week 8 onwards was confirmed by histological analysis. In contrast, brain MRI indicated that neurodegeneration occurs later in G93A-SOD1 mice, with hyperintensity MRI signals detected only at weeks 10-18. Neurodegenerative changes were observed only in the motor nuclei areas of the brainstem; MRI changes indicative of neurodegeneration were not detected in the motor cortex where first motor neurons originate, even at the late disease stage. This longitudinal MRI study establishes unequivocally that, in the experimental murine model of ALS, muscle degeneration occurs before any evidence of neurodegeneration and clinical signs, supporting the postulate that motor neuron disease can initiate from muscle damage and result from retrograde dying-back of the motor neurons.

Localized regulation of axonal RanGTPase controls retrograde injury signaling in peripheral nerve.

Peripheral sensory neurons respond to axon injury by activating an importin-dependent retrograde signaling mechanism. How is this mechanism regulated? Here, we show that Ran GTPase and its associated effectors RanBP1 and RanGAP regulate the formation of importin signaling complexes in injured axons. A gradient of nuclear RanGTP versus cytoplasmic RanGDP is thought to be fundamental for the organization of eukaryotic cells. Surprisingly, we find RanGTP in sciatic nerve axoplasm, distant from neuronal cell bodies and nuclei, and in association with dynein and importin-alpha. Following injury, localized translation of RanBP1 stimulates RanGTP dissociation from importins and subsequent hydrolysis, thereby allowing binding of newly synthesized importin-beta to importin-alpha and dynein. Perturbation of RanGTP hydrolysis or RanBP1 blockade at axonal injury sites reduces the neuronal conditioning lesion response. Thus, neurons employ localized mechanisms of Ran regulation to control retrograde injury signaling in peripheral nerve.

Effects of axotomy on telomere length, telomerase activity, and protein in activated microglia.

The adult central nervous system (CNS) is generally thought of as a postmitotic organ. However, DNA labeling studies have shown that one major population of nonneuronal cells, called microglia, retain significant mitotic potential. Microglial cell division is prominent during acute CNS injury involving neuronal damage or death. Prior work from this laboratory has shown that purified microglia maintained in vitro with continual mitogenic stimulation exhibit telomere shortening before entering senescence. In the current study, we sought to investigate whether telomere shortening occurs in dividing microglia in vivo. For this purpose, we used a nerve injury model that is known to trigger localized microglial proliferation in a well-defined CNS region, the facial motor nucleus. Adult Sprague-Dawley rats underwent facial nerve axotomy, and facial motor nuclei were microdissected after 1, 4, 7, and 10 days. Whole tissue samples were subjected to measurements of telomere length, telomerase activity, and telomerase protein. Results revealed a tendency for all of these parameters to be increased in lesioned samples. In addition, microglial cells isolated directly from axotomized facial nuclei with fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) showed increased telomerase activity relative to unoperated controls, suggesting that microglia are the primary cell type responsible for the increases observed in whole tissue samples. Overall, the results show that microglia activated by injury are capable of maintaining telomere length via telomerase during periods of high proliferation in vivo. We conclude that molecular mechanisms pertaining to telomere maintenance are active in the injured CNS.

Increased expression and activation of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) contribute to retinal ganglion cell death following rat optic nerve transection.

Excessive activation of the nuclear enzyme poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) by free-radical damaged DNA mediates necrotic cell death in injury models of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion and excitotoxicity. We recently reported that secondary retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death following rat optic nerve (ON) transection is mainly apoptotic and can significantly but not entirely be blocked by caspase inhibition. In the present study, we demonstrate transient, RGC-specific PARP activation and increased retinal PARP expression early after ON axotomy. In addition, intravitreal injections of 3-aminobenzamide blocked PARP activation in RGCs and resulted in an increased number of surviving RGCs when compared to control animals 14 days after ON transection. These data indicate that secondary degeneration of a subset of axotomized RGCs results from a necrotic-type cell death mediated by PARP activation and increased PARP expression. Furthermore, PARP inhibition may constitute a relevant strategy for clinical treatment of traumatic brain injury.

Expression of neuronal isoform of nitric oxide synthase in spinal neurons of neonatal rats after sciatic nerve transection.

Motoneuron death induced by sciatic nerve transection in neonatal rats has been related to induction of the neuronal isoform of nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), a diaphorase of which one of the cofactors is nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH). We transected the sciatic nerve of neonatal rats (P2) and examined nNOS expression by immunostaining in neurons of the sciatic pool and of other spinal levels on the 5th day after surgery. No correspondence was observed between the surviving motoneurons and nNOS positive cells. The appearance and distribution of nNOS positive neurons at all spinal levels and laminae were similar to those of adult animals. These results are at variance with previous studies which showed correlation between motoneuron loss after axotomy and number of NADPH-diaphorase positive motoneurons after sciatic transection.