alpha-synuclein and Motor-Neuron-Disease

p27

Topics: alpha-Synuclein; Animals; Gene Products, tat; Inflammation; Lipid Peroxidation; Male; Motor Neuron Disease; Neurons; Neuroprotective Agents; Oxidative Stress; Rabbits; Reactive Oxygen Species; Spinal Cord Ischemia

We previously reported up-regulation of tigarb (the zebrafish orthologue of human TIGAR, TP53 - Induced Glycolysis and Apoptosis Regulator) in a zebrafish pink1. TIGAR Immunohistochemistry, using a range of antibodies, was undertaken for detailed assessment of TIGAR in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue from post mortem brains of PD patients and other neurodegenerative disorders (n = 10 controls, 10 PD cases, 10 dementia with Lewy bodies, 5 motor neurone disease (MND), 3 multiple system atrophy (MSA)) and complemented by immunohistochemistry for p53, hexokinase I (HK-I) and hexokinase II (HK-II; n = 4 control, 4 PD, and 4 dementia with Lewy bodies).. TIGAR was detected in Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites in the substantia nigra of sporadic PD and Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) patients. Staining of adjacent sections and double staining confirmed the presence of TIGAR alongside alpha-synuclein in these LB and neurites. In contrast, TIGAR-positive aggregates were not seen in cortical Lewy bodies. TIGAR protein was also absent in both TDP-43-positive inclusions in MND and glial cytoplasmic inclusions in MSA. Subsequent investigation of the TIGAR-upstream regulator p53 and the downstream targets HK-I and HK-II in PD brains suggested a possible mild increase in HK-I.. TIGAR protein, is present in SN Lewy bodies of both sporadic PD and DLB. The absence of TIGAR protein in the pathological inclusions of MND or MSA suggests disease specificity and further raises the possibility that TIGAR may be involved in PD pathogenesis.

Topics: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; alpha-Synuclein; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; Brain; Dementia; Female; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Inclusion Bodies; Lewy Bodies; Lewy Body Disease; Male; Middle Aged; Motor Neuron Disease; Multiple System Atrophy; Neurites; Neurons; Parkinson Disease; Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases; Substantia Nigra

The term "motor neuron disease" encompasses a spectrum of disorders in which motor neurons are the primary pathological target. However, in both patients and animal models of these diseases, not all motor neurons are equally vulnerable, in that while some motor neurons are lost very early in disease, others remain comparatively intact, even at late stages. This creates a valuable system to investigate the factors that regulate motor neuron vulnerability. In this study, we aim to use this experimental paradigm to identify potential transcriptional modifiers. We have compared the transcriptome of motor neurons from healthy wild-type mice, which are differentially vulnerable in the childhood motor neuron disease Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), and have identified 910 transcriptional changes. We have compared this data set with published microarray data sets on other differentially vulnerable motor neurons. These neurons were differentially vulnerable in the adult onset motor neuron disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), but the screen was performed on the equivalent population of neurons from neurologically normal human, rat and mouse. This cross species comparison has generated a refined list of differentially expressed genes, including CELF5, Col5a2, PGEMN1, SNCA, Stmn1 and HOXa5, alongside a further enrichment for synaptic and axonal transcripts. As an in vivo validation, we demonstrate that the manipulation of a significant number of these transcripts can modify the neurodegenerative phenotype observed in a Drosophila line carrying an ALS causing mutation. Finally, we demonstrate that vector-mediated expression of alpha-synuclein (SNCA), a transcript decreased in selectively vulnerable motor neurons in all four screens, can extend life span, increase weight and decrease neuromuscular junction pathology in a mouse model of SMA. In summary, we have combined multiple data sets to identify transcripts, which are strong candidates for being phenotypic modifiers, and demonstrated SNCA is a modifier of pathology in motor neuron disease.

Topics: alpha-Synuclein; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis; Animals; Axons; Disease Models, Animal; Drosophila melanogaster; Gene Expression Regulation; Humans; Mice; Motor Neuron Disease; Motor Neurons; Muscle, Skeletal; Neuromuscular Junction; Phenotype; Rats; Transcriptome

We report on two cases of sporadic idiopathic Parkinson's disease with motor neuron disease co-occurring in the same individuals. Pathological analysis revealed the presence of Lewy bodies in brainstem nuclei and basal forebrain consistent with Lewy body disease (LBD), as well as motor neuron degeneration and argyrophilic grain disease. We compared our two cases to all previously published pathological cases of combined LBD and motor neuron degeneration.

Topics: Aged; alpha-Synuclein; Brain; Female; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Male; Motor Neuron Disease; Neurofilament Proteins; Parkinson Disease; Ubiquitin

Alpha-synuclein (ASN) has been implicated in neurodegenerative disorders characterized by Lewy body inclusions such as Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. Lewy body-like inclusions have also been observed in spinal neurons of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and reports suggest possible ASN abnormalities in ALS patients. We assessed ASN immunoreactivity in spinal and brain tissues of subjects who had died of progressive motor neuron disorders (MND). Clinical records of subjects with MND and a comparison group were reviewed to determine the diagnosis according to El-Escariol Criteria of ALS. Cervical, thoracic and lumbar cord sections were stained with an antibody to ASN. A blinded, semiquantitative review of sections from both groups included examination for evidence of spheroids, neuronal staining, cytoplasmic inclusions, anterior horn granules, white and gray matter glial staining, corticospinal tract axonal fiber and myelin changes. MND cases, including ALS and progressive muscular atrophy, displayed significantly increased ASN staining of spheroids ( P< or =0.001), and glial staining in gray and white matter ( P< or =0.05). Significant abnormal staining of corticospinal axon tract fibers and myelin was also observed ( P< or =0.05 and 0.01). Detection of possible ASN-positive neuronal inclusions did not differ between groups. Significant ASN abnormalities were observed in MND. These findings suggest a possible role for ASN in MND; however, the precise nature of this association is unclear.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; alpha-Synuclein; Anterior Horn Cells; Female; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Male; Middle Aged; Motor Neuron Disease; Nerve Tissue Proteins; Spinocerebellar Tracts; Synucleins

Motor neuron disease (MND) may be complicated by frontotemporal dementia and/or an extrapyramidal movement disorder. Several studies have identified the pathological substrate for dementia in MND as being ubiquitin-immunoreactive inclusions and dystrophic neurites in the extramotor neocortex and hippocampus. Although degenerative changes have previously been noted in the basal ganglia and substantia nigra in MND, detailed pathological studies with clinical correlation are lacking. We examined postmortem material from eight patients with a history of MND and dementia, four of whom also had prominent extrapyramidal features. All cases showed the expected degenerative changes in the pyramidal motor system and ubiquitin-positive inclusions in the extramotor cortex. In addition, the cases with a history of extrapyramidal features had striking pathology in the basal ganglia and substantia nigra; neuronal loss and gliosis ranged from moderate to severe and immunohistochemistry demonstrated numerous neuronal inclusions and dystrophic neurites, which were reactive for ubiquitin, but not tau or alpha-synuclein. Similar pathology was either absent or much milder in cases without extrapyramidal features. This study illustrates the utility of ubiquitin immunohistochemistry in demonstrating the range of pathology in MND and provides a neuropathological correlate for the extrapyramidal features which may occur in MND with dementia.

Topics: alpha-Synuclein; Basal Ganglia Diseases; Corpus Striatum; Dementia; Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; Hippocampus; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Inclusion Bodies; Motor Neuron Disease; Nerve Degeneration; Nerve Tissue Proteins; Neuroglia; Neurons; Postmortem Changes; Substantia Nigra; Synucleins; tau Proteins; Ubiquitin

We report two patients with motor neuron disease-inclusion dementia, with special reference to the pathology of the motor neuron system and hippocampal formation. The ages of the patients at death were 55 and 62 years, and the disease durations were 8 and 3 years, respectively. The two patients exhibited progressive frontotemporal dementia in the absence of motor neuron signs. At autopsy, both cases exhibited frontotemporal lobar atrophy with ubiquitin-positive, and tau- and alpha-synuclein-negative neuronal inclusions. As expected from the clinical signs, in both cases, the upper and lower motor neuron systems were well preserved: no Bunina bodies or ubiquitinated inclusions were detected in the motor neurons. However, of great importance was that when visualized immunohistochemically, the Golgi apparatus and trans-Golgi network often exhibited fragmentation in the lower motor neurons (the spinal anterior horn cells). In one of the cases, a decrease in the amount of Golgi apparatus was also a frequent feature in the upper motor neurons (Betz cells in the motor cortex). Moreover, in both cases, circumscribed degeneration affecting the CA1-subiculum border zone was evident in the hippocampal formation. These findings further strengthen the idea that, pathologically, motor neuron disease-inclusion dementia is a rare phenotype of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Topics: alpha-Synuclein; Crystallins; Cystatin C; Cystatins; Dementia; Frontal Lobe; Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; Glycoproteins; Hippocampus; Humans; Inclusion Bodies; Male; Membrane Glycoproteins; Membrane Proteins; Middle Aged; Motor Neuron Disease; Nerve Tissue Proteins; Neurofilament Proteins; Spinal Cord; Synucleins; tau Proteins; Ubiquitin

Topics: alpha-Synuclein; Brain Stem; Coloring Agents; Dementia; Humans; Inclusion Bodies; Lewy Bodies; Motor Neuron Disease; Multiple System Atrophy; Nerve Tissue Proteins; Neurites; Neuroglia; Neurons; Parkinson Disease; Phosphoproteins; Silver; Synucleins