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.