Neurofilament phosphorylation is enhanced in cultured chick spinal cord neurons exposed to cerebrospinal fluid from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a neurodegenerative disease, is characterized by degeneration of lower and upper motor neurons. Serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of ALS patients have been found to exert toxic effects on neurons in culture. We report here increased phosphorylation of neurofilaments (NF) in the soma of chick spinal cord neurons in culture when exposed to CSF of ALS patients. Spinal cord neurons were cultured from 10-day embryonic chick and exposed to culture medium supplemented with CSF or serum (10%) from ALS and non-ALS patients for 48 h. There was a significant increase in the number of neuronal soma staining with antibodies against phosphorylated NF, following exposure to CSF from ALS patients. Such an increase, however, was not observed in cultures exposed to serum from ALS patients and also serum and CSF from non-ALS patients. These results suggest that the CSF of ALS patients may contain factor(s) which induces aberrant phosphorylation of NF in the soma, a probable forerunner to the formation of neurofibrillary tangles and eventual degeneration of neurons.Supported by a research grant from the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore, India     

肌萎缩侧索硬化患者血清对器官型培养脊髓片的影响

目的　观察肌萎缩侧索硬化(ALS)患者的血清对器官型培养的脊髓片的影响,探讨ALS运动神经元损伤的机制。方法　取120只生后8d乳鼠的腰段脊髓切片240片做器官型培养,在培养液中分别加入健康对照血清(对照组120片)和含有较高浓度谷氨酸(Glu)的ALS患者血清(ALS组120片),培养4周,计数脊髓前角α运动神经元和后角中间神经元的数目,琥珀酸脱氢酶(SDH)染色观察线粒体酶活性改变,测定培养液中乳酸脱氢酶(LDH)、Glu、超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)、丙二醛(MDA)的含量,两组间进行比较。结果　对照组脊髓片在体外生长良好,α运动神经元(约15个/张脊髓片)和后角中间神经元(约40个/2 5mm2 )的数目稳定。而ALS组的脊髓片在培养4周时前角α运动神经元的数目明显减少(约7个/张脊髓片),SDH染色明显减弱。用ALS患者血清干预后,培养液中LDH、MDA的含量在培养3周后较对照组分别升高了22 4%和48 2%,而SOD则下降了12 6%;ALS组培养液中的Glu含量在各时点均较对照组显著升高(P<0 .01 )。结论　Glu兴奋毒、自由基损伤在ALS的发病中起重要作用,脊髓的器官型培养技术为ALS损伤机制的探讨提供了有效手段。     

Autophagy in spinal cord motor neurons in sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

To assess the potential role of autophagy in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), lumbar spinal cords in a total of 19 sporadic ALS cases and 27 age-matched controls were investigated. Immunohistochemical analysis using antibodies to the markers of autophagy microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 (LC3) and p62 was performed on samples from 12 ALS and 15 controls. Electron microscopy was performed on samples from 16 ALS and 15 controls, including overlapping cases. In the ALS cases, the somata of normal-appearing and degenerated motor neurons and round bodies were occasionally immunostained for LC3; round bodies and skein-like inclusions were immunostained for p62. By electron microscopy, all 16 ALS patients showed features of autophagy in the cytoplasm of normal-appearing motor neurons and, more frequently, in degenerated motor neurons. Autophagosomes surrounded by a double-membrane and autolysosomes isolated by a single membrane contained sequestered cytoplasmic organelles, such as mitochondria and ribosome-like structures. These autophagy features were also found in close association with the characteristic inclusions of ALS(i.e. round bodies, skein-like inclusions, and Bunina bodies); honeycomb-like structures also occasionally showed autophagy-associated features. Normal-appearing anterior horn neurons in control patients showed no autophagy features. Thus, autophagy seems to be activated and upregulated in the cytoplasm of motor neurons and may be involved in the mechanisms of neurodegeneration of motor neurons in sporadic ALS.     

Characterizations of heterotopic neurons in the spinal cord of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients

This report concerns a comparative immunocytochemical, ultrastructural and morphometric investigation on heterotopic neurons in the white matter of the spinal cords of 19 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and 18 age-matched neurologically normal individuals. The study revealed that the heterotopic neurons were scattered in the white matter, often adjacent to gray matter, that they immunoreacted with the antibody to synaptophysin, and that there were synaptic apparatuses on the surface of their somata and their neuronal processes. Bunina bodies and ubiquitin-positive inclusions such as Lewy body-like inclusions and skein-like inclusions, characteristic of anterior horn neurons of ALS, were present in the cytoplasm of the patients’ heterotopic neurons in the anterior or lateral column of the white matter. These findings suggest that heterotopic neurons in the anterior or lateral column have the characteristics of alpha motor neurons. The average number of heterotopic neurons observed in ALS patients was generally less than in normal subjects. This reduction was correlated with the severity of neuronal loss. The heterotopic neurons in ALS were less susceptible to the degenerative process as compared with spinal cord anterior horn cells. We assume that in this disease the heterotopic neurons may be degenerated and their number diminished after or concomitantly with the depletion of anterior horn neurons. Received: 18 August 1997 / Revised, accepted: 20 October 1997     

Degeneration of spinocerebellar neurons in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

The selective involvement of spinocerebellar neurons in sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis was investigated using two monoclonal antibodies that have neuronal subset specificity in human spinal cord. In normal control subjects, monoclonal antibody 6A2 showed specificity for neurons of the dorsal nucleus of Clarke, the cells of origin of the dorsal spinocerebellar tract. Immunoreactive neurons were also observed in locations corresponding to the central cervical nucleus and spinal border region, containing neurons of the cervicospinocerebellar and ventral spinocerebellar tracts, respectively. The latter two neuronal subsets are indistinguishable from surrounding neurons when conventional histological stains are used. Antigen 6A2 was distributed on surfaces of neuronal somas and proximal neurites and extended into the extracellular space. A second antibody, monoclonal antibody 44.1, labeled the cytoplasm of neuronal somas and neurites, including all monoclonal antibody 6A2-reactive cells and alpha motoneurons. In spinal cords of all 5 patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, monoclonal antibody 6A2 reactivity in the majority of spinocerebellar neurons was absent or localized to the somal cytoplasm, which still stained with monoclonal antibody 44.1. In more severely involved tissues, there was loss of some spinocerebellar neurons and a corresponding loss of monoclonal antibody 44.1 reactivity. These findings confirm involvement of the spinal cord components of the spinocerebellar system at all levels in sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and suggest that some surface molecules are modified during the degenerative process.     

Hyperimmune goat serum for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

The authors report a patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) who showed a lessening of deterioration in respiratory muscle strength during treatment with hyperimmune goat serum (HGS) (Aimspro). Respiratory function tests (RFTs) were measured by established protocols, and all measurements were expressed as a percentage of normal predicted values. The rate of decline was calculated by linear regression analysis. Respiratory muscle strength decline was less during 13 months of treatment with HGS (mean 1.3% per month, range 0.8-1.7%) compared to the preceding 13 months (mean 2.3% per month, range 1.2-3.1%), while a greater decline would be expected with disease progression. Comparison with similarly affected patients in the literature suggest that a decline of 4-5% per month of predicted values may be expected during the treatment phase.     

Decrease of protein kinase C in the spinal motor neurons of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

The expression of protein kinase C (PKC), a calcium- and phospholipid-dependent signaling molecule, was studied immunohistochemically in the spinal motor neurons of cases of sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (SALS). In the normal spinal cord, intense PKC immunoreactivity was found in subsets of large motor neurons. PKC immunoreactivity was markedly decreased in the spinal motor neurons of SALS. The result suggests that down-regulation of PKC is associated with the degeneration of spinal motor neurons in SALS. Received: 7 April 1997 /Revised, accepted: 18 December 1997     

家族性肌萎缩侧索硬化动物模型脊髓侧角神经元特征

目的探讨脊髓侧角神经元在SOD1G93A转基因鼠发病过程中的变化特征。方法利用甲苯胺蓝染色及免疫组化的方法观察SOD1G93A转基因小鼠不同病变时期上、中、下胸髓侧角神经元的数量变化特征。结果甲苯胺蓝染色法定量研究发现不同时期SOD1G93A转基因小鼠上胸髓、下胸髓水平,症状前期和发病期神经元计数较终末期均有显著性差别(P<0.05);与对照组相比,终末期胸髓各段侧角神经元计数明显减少且有统计学意义;免疫组化发现SOD1G93A转基因小鼠上胸髓、中胸髓水平不同时期相比,症状前期和发病期乙酰胆碱酯酶(AchE)阳性神经元计数较终末期均有显著性差别(P<0.05);与对照组相比,发病期上胸髓及终末期中、下胸髓水平侧角AchE阳性神经元数量减少具有统计学意义;结论在SOD1G93A转基因鼠发病过程中,存在脊髓侧角神经元丢失,尤其是在疾病的终末期,上、中、下胸髓节段间无明显差异。     

Cortical versus spinal dysfunction in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Little is known about the possible link between cortical and spinal motor neuron dysfunction in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We correlated the characteristics of the responses to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) with the electromechanical properties and firing pattern of single motor units (MUs) tested in nine ALS patients, three patients with Kennedy's disease, and 15 healthy subjects. In Kennedy's disease, 19 of 22 MUs were markedly enlarged with good electromechanical coupling and discharged with great variability. Their excitatory responses increased with MU size. In ALS, 17 of 34 MUs with excitatory responses behaved as in Kennedy's disease. By contrast, 28 MUs with nonsignificant responses showed poor electromechanical coupling and high firing rates, whereas 28 MUs with inhibitory responses showed moderate functional alterations. This result indicates that in ALS as in Kennedy's disease, sprouting of corticospinal axons may occur on surviving motoneurons. A clear relationship exists between the responsiveness of MUs to TMS and their functional state.     

Low concentrations of glutamate induce apoptosis in cultured neurons: implications for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Evidence is accumulating that excessive glutamate concentration in the extracellular space is neurotoxic and plays a role in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, the published results on glutamate levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and on glutamate-mediated toxicity of CSF in ALS disease remain controversial. In this report, we studied CSF from patients with sporadic ALS and controls to determine glutamate concentrations, and then analyzed the neurotoxic effect of glutamate at the concentrations present in CSF from ALS patients on cultured cortical neuronal cells. Our study shows that glutamate, at the concentrations found in CSF from ALS patients (5.8 microM), diminished cell viability and increased apoptosis determined by the fluorescent DNA-binding dye Hoechst 33342 as well as by Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated dUTP Nick End-Labeling (TUNEL) reaction in cultured neuronal cells. However, glutamate concentrations as those found in CSF from controls (2.8 microM or below) did not induce any effect. Both significant glutamate-induced effects were inhibited in the presence of NBQX (2,3-dihydroxy-6-nitro-7-sulfamoyl-benzo(f)quinoxaline-2,3-dione), an alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA)/kainate-sensitive glutamate receptor antagonist. These results demonstrate that AMPA/kainate receptors are involved in the glutamate-mediated neurotoxic effects on cultured neurons, according to reports that implicate these receptors in ALS disease. We conclude that the glutamate-mediated neuronal apoptosis through AMPA/kainate receptors could occur in ALS patients who have elevated CSF glutamate concentration.     

Abnormalities of cortical inhibitory neurons in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

We have used peristimulus time histograms to study how paired, transcranial magnetic stimulation alters the firing of single motor units and the magnitude of unitary excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) recorded from the extensor digitorum communis muscle. With stimulus intensity at threshold and an interstimulus interval of 30 ms, normal subjects (n = 20) demonstrated marked inhibition with a mean test/conditioning EPSP ratio of 13.8% (range 0–51%) and in 7 subjects the ratio was 0 (100% inhibition). In amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) the ratio was 133% (range 64–267%), P < 0.001. Fifty percent of patients had a test/conditioning EPSP ratio greater than 100% (0 inhibition). The abnormalities were independent of disease severity, bulbar versus spinal ALS, more prominent upper versus lower motor neuron findings, and disease duration. Normal inhibition occurred in 3 individuals, 1 each with multiple sclerosis, Kennedy's syndrome, and monomelic amyotrophy. We speculate that the marked loss of inhibition seen in all patients with ALS, which may be unique to this disorder, reflects loss of inhibitory modulation of the corticomotoneuron and could result in their chronic excitatory drive and eventual demise. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Expression of ciliary neurotrophic factor is maintained in spinal motor neurons of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) was originally identified as a potent survival factor for a variety of neuronal cell types in vitro and in vivo and in particular in spinal motor neurons of embryonic chick and rat. Using a monoclonal antibody against CNTF (clone 4–68) we analysed the expression of CNTF in paraffin sections of seven human brains and spinal cords immunocytochemically using the ABC method and compared these results with sections of the spinal cords of patients suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In normal human tissue of the central nervous system CNTF immunoreactivity was found in most of the motor neurons of the motor cortex and ventral horn, neurons of the nucleus oculomotorius, intermediolateralis, thoracicus, ependymal cells as well as in smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells of small arteries. A reduced number of astrocytes showed a positive immunocytochemical reaction. In peripheral nerves and nerve roots of the spinal cord we also found a positive staining of Schwann cells and some axons. These immunoreactions could be confirmed by Western blot analyses. Next we analysed postmortem paraffin sections of the spinal cord of seven patients suffering from ALS (age range 30–76 years, median age 46 years, female/male = 4:3). We found CNTF immunoreactivity in most of the motor neurons of the ventral horn in 5 cases. In two cases the number of positively stained motor neurons was less. From these results we conclude that CNTF is expressed in a high number of upper and lower motor neurons in the human CNS and that its expression is maintained in ALS patients.     

Beta-amyloid 42 accumulation in the lumbar spinal cord motor neurons of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is characterized by a progressive loss of large motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. Amyloid precursor protein (APP), the transmembrane precursor of beta-amyloid (A beta), accumulates in the anterior horn motor neurons of ALS patients with mild lesions. APP undergoes an alternative proteolysis mediated by caspase-3, which is activated in motor neurons in a mouse model of ALS. The ALS spinal cord motor neurons also show evidence of increased oxidative damage, which is thought to alter APP processing. We sought to determine whether A beta42, the more pathogenic A beta species, accumulates in the postmortem lumbar spinal cord of ALS patients. While there was little or no A beta42 labeling in control spinal cord tissues, elevated A beta42 immunoreactivity occurred in ALS motor neuronal perikarya and axonal swellings in the anterior horn. A few A beta42-positive neurons exhibited thioflavine S staining. No extracellular A beta42 deposits were found. A beta42 coexisted with the oxidative damage markers malondialdehyde, 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine, heme oxygenase-1, and nitrotyrosine in abnormal neurons. The neurons with intracellular A beta42 accumulation also displayed robust cleaved caspase-3 immunoreactivity. Very little A beta40 immunoreactivity occurred in motor neurons of both control and ALS. These results suggest that aberrant accumulation of A beta42 in ALS spinal cord motor neurons is associated with oxidative stress, and may play a role in the pathogenesis of neurodegeneration in ALS.     

RET-like immunostaining of spinal motoneurons in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

The receptor tyrosine kinase RET is part of a functional receptor for glial cell derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) and neurturin (NTN) which are potent neurotrophic factors for motoneurons. Here, we have studied RET-like immunoreactivity of motoneurons in post-mortem spinal cords of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and in controls. We report that the intensity of RET-like immunostaining of motoneurons in ALS is decreased significantly to 81% of control values. Despite this change, the proportion of all large (>40 μm diameter) motoneurons showing RET-like immunoreactivity in ALS remains high (82–85%) and is not significantly different to controls. The persistence of RET-like immunoreactivity in the majority of large motoneurons in ALS could be important in the design of clinical trials of GDNF and NTN.     

Morphometric and topographical studies of small neurons in sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis spinal gray matter

Little attention has been paid to the degeneration of small neurons in ALS spinal gray matter. The purpose of the present paper was to undertake morphometric and quantitative analysis of the spinal gray matter of 15 ALS patients and compare findings to those of five controls. A significant reduction of small neurons in the anteromedial and intermediate parts of the gray matter were detected in ALS spinal cords with diffuse myelin pallor in the ventral aspects of the anterolateral columns outside the corticospinal tracts, and the number of small neurons in these areas was decreased significantly depending on the intensity of the myelin pallor. There were no significant alterations in the number of small neurons in the corresponding areas of ALS spinal cords without diffuse myelin pallor or in those of controls. In the posterior parts of the gray matter, there were no significant differences in the number of small neurons among ALS patients and controls. These findings strongly suggest that diffuse myelin pallor in the ventral aspects of anterolateral columns in ALS spinal cords is derived from the degeneration of small neurons in the anteromedial and intermediate parts of the gray matter.     

肌萎缩侧索硬化症相关基因VAPB对皮质神经元存活及突触蛋白表达的影响

目的探讨肌萎缩侧索硬化症(ALS)致病基因VAPB P56S突变对原代培养皮质神经元的细胞活性及突触蛋白表达的影响。方法以非转基因(nTg)和VAPB P56S转基因(P56S Tg)新生小鼠为细胞来源,体外培养皮质神经元10d和20d后,分别利用MTT法和Western blot法检测皮质神经元存活率以及突触蛋白表达水平。结果与nTg小鼠的皮质神经元比较,VAPB P56S转基因小鼠的皮质神经元在体外培养20d时细胞活力显著降低(P0.0001),而在体外培养10d时无明显差异(P=0.5140),但突触囊泡膜蛋白SV2C(P0.0001)、突触囊泡结合蛋白VAMP2(P=0.0047)、突触小体相关蛋白SNAP25(P0.0001)和突触后致密蛋白PSD95(P0.0001)表达水平均显著降低。结论 VAPB P56S降低原代皮质神经元活性,并在神经元变性死亡前即损害突触结构和功能相关蛋白的表达。     

Cerebrospinal fluid from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis has no effect on intracellular free calcium in cultured cortical neurons

The data from the literature regarding the presence of a neurotoxic factor in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) plasma or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) remain controversial. As a new approach to this question, we have studied the effect of CSF from ALS patients on the temporal dynamics of the intracellular free calcium concentration ([Ca²⁺]_i) of murine cortical neurons in cultures using Fura-2 fluorescence videomicroscopy and single-cell imaging. CSF from seven ALS patients and controls was added at dilutions up to 20% to cortical neuronal cultures. The in vitro inhibition of CSF on [³H]kainic acid binding showed that the CSF did not contain any substances other than glutamate itself in larger amounts. At the concentrations used, the CSF did not have any effect on [Ca²⁺]_i or on the neuronal responsiveness as defined by the ability of the cells to respond with a transient increase in [Ca²⁺]_i to depolarization induced by KCl. The disturbance of the intracellular calcium homeostasis is one of the key mechanisms of action of excitotoxic compounds mediating delayed neuronal cell death by stimulation of glutamate receptor subtypes. In this study, CSF from ALS patients did not induce immediate rises in [Ca²⁺]_i or disturbances of the intracellular calcium homeostasis when measured over a period of 2 h.     

Golgi apparatus of the motor neurons in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and in mice models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

We examined the Golgi apparatus (GA) of motor neurons of patients with ALS and in mice models of ALS by immunohistological method using antiserum against MG160 and against components of the trans‐Golgi network (TGN46). The GA of half of the remaining spinal cord motor neurons of patients with sporadic ALS showed fragmentation, where the GA were dispersed or fragmented into numerous small, isolated elements. The GA of Betz cells in sporadic ALS were fragmented similar to that of anterior horn cells, and the GA of spinal cord motor neurons of those with familial ALS and of those with ALS with basophilic inclusions were fragmented or diminished. The GA in the majority of the motor neurons contained Bunina bodies, basophilic inclusions and superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1)‐positive aggregates were fragmented. The motor neurons in transgenic mice expressing G93A mutation of the SOD1 gene showed the fragmentation of the GA months before the onset of paralysis. These findings suggest that the fragmentation of GA may be related to the neuronal degeneration in patients with ALS.