Project description:Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a paralytic degenerative disease of the nervous system. In the SOD1 mouse model of ALS we found loss of the molecular and functional microglia signature associated with pronounced expression of miR-155 in SOD1 mice. We also found increased expression of miR-155 in the spinal cord of ALS subjects. Genetic ablation of miR-155 increased survival in SOD1 mice and reversed the abnormal microglial and monocyte molecular signature. In addition, dysregulated proteins in the spinal cord of SOD1 mice that we identified in human ALS spinal cords and CSF were restored in SOD1G93A/miR155-/- mice. Treatment of SOD1 mice with anti-miR-155 SOD1 mice injected systemically or into the cerebrospinal fluid prolonged survival and restored the microglial unique genetic and microRNA profiles. Our findings provide a new avenue for immune based therapy of ALS by targeting miR-155. Total RNA was isolated from whole lumbar spinal cord homogenate from healthy control donors without known neurologic diseases and sporadic and familial ALS.
Project description:This project is "Phosphoproteomic analysis of the lumbar spinal cord, a lesion site in the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) mouse model SOD1G93A mice". The aim of this study is to clarify the phosphorylation changes by the lumbar spinal cord of SOD1G93A mice at 20w by applying proteomics technology. The goal of this study is to better understand the pathogenesis of ALS. lumbar spinal cord of SOD1G93A mice (n=5) and WT mice (n=4) were collected at 20w, and the phosphoproteomics were compared.
Project description:Early molecular events related to cytoskeleton are poorly described in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), especially in the Schwann cell (SC), which offers strong trophic support to motor neurons. DAVID tool identified cytoskeleton-related genes by employing the Cellular Component of Gene Ontology (CCO) in a large gene profiling of lumbar spinal cord and sciatic nerve of presymptomatic SOD1G93A mice. One and five CCO terms related to cytoskeleton were described from the spinal cord deregulated genes of 40 days (actin cytoskeleton) and 80 days (microtubule cytoskeleton, cytoskeleton part, actin cytoskeleton, neurofilament cytoskeleton and cytoskeleton) old transgene mice, respectively. Also, four terms were depicted from the deregulated genes of sciatic nerve of 60 days old transgenes (actin cytoskeleton, cytoskeleton part, microtubule cytoskeleton and cytoskeleton). Kif1b was the unique gene that appeared deregulated in more than one studied region or presymptomatic age. The expression of Kif1b (qPCR) elevated in the lumbar spinal cord (40 days old) and decreased in the sciatic nerve (60 days old) of presymptomatic ALS mice, results that were in line to microarray findings. Upregulation (24.8 fold) of Kif1b was seen in laser microdissected enriched immunolabeled motor neurons from the spinal cord of 40 days old presymptomatic SOD1G93A mice. Furthermore, Kif1b was downregulated in the sciatic nerve Schwann cells of presymptomatic ALS mice (60 days old) that were enriched by means of cell microdissection (6.35 fold), cell sorting (3.53 fold) and primary culture (2.70 fold) technologies. The gene regulation of cytoskeleton molecules is an important occurrence in motor neurons and Schwann cells in presymptomatic stages of ALS and may be relevant in the dying back mechanisms of neuronal death. Differential regulation of Kif1b in the spinal cord and sciatic nerve cells emerged as key event in ALS. Sciatic nerve from SOD1G93A and Non transgenic controls from 60 days were used in the experiments. 4 biological replicates were used. A reference sample, comprised by RNA from different neonatal organs (heart, liver, kidney) were used in the hybridations
Project description:Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an incurable disease characterized by proteinaceous aggregate accumulation and neuroinflammation culminating in rapidly progressive lower and upper motor neuron death. To interrogate cell-intrinsic and inter-cell type perturbations in ALS, single-nucleus RNA sequencing was performed on the lumbar spinal cord in the murine ALS model SOD1G93A transgenic and littermate control mice at peri-symptomatic onset stage of disease, age 90 days. This work uncovered perturbed tripartite synapse functions, complement activation and metabolic stress in the affected spinal cord; processes evidenced by cell death and proteolytic stress-associated gene sets. Concomitantly, these pro-damage events in the spinal cord co-existed with dysregulated reparative mechanisms. This work provides a resource of cell-specific niches in the ALS spinal cord and asserts that interwoven dysfunctional neuronal-glial communications mediating neurodegeneration are underway prior to overt disease manifestation and are recapitulated, in part, in the human post-mortem ALS spinal cord.
Project description:A consistent clinical feature of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is the sparing of eye movements. Pathological studies have confirmed that there is relative sparing of the cranial motor nuclei of the oculomotor, trochlear and abducens nerves, although pathological changes resembling those seen in anterior horn cells are present to a lesser degree. The aim of the present study is to combine LCM and microarray analysis to study the differences between motor neurons that are selectively resistant (oculomotor neurons) and those that are vulnerable (lumbar spinal motor neurons) to the disease process in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. We used microarray analysis to determine the differences in gene expression between oculomotor and lumbar spinal motor neurons, isolated by laser capture microdissection from the midbrain and spinal cord of neurologically normal human controls.
Project description:Bulk RNA Sequencing of Col1a1GFP+ cells from the spinal cords of healthy Col1a1GFP mice and mice 5 or 10 days after EAE symptom onset compared to bulk RNA sequencing of whole spinal cord homogenate
Project description:Burgeoning evidence highlights seminal roles for microglia in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) binds ligands relevant to ALS that accumulate in the diseased spinal cord and RAGE has been previously implicated in the progression of ALS pathology. We generated a novel mouse model to temporally delete Ager from microglia in the murine SOD1G93A model of ALS. Microglia Ager deficient SOD1G93A mice and controls were examined for changes in survival, motor function, gliosis, motor neuron numbers, and transcriptomic analyses of lumbar spinal cord. Furthermore, we examined bulk-RNA-sequencing transcriptomic analyses of human ALS cervical spinal cord. Transcriptomic analysis of human cervical spinal cord reveals a range of AGER expression in ALS patients, which was negatively correlated with age at disease onset and death or tracheostomy. The degree of AGER expression related to differential expression of pathways involved in extracellular matrix, lipid metabolism, and intercellular communication. Microglia display increased RAGE immunoreactivity in the spinal cords of high AGER expressing patients and in the SOD1G93A murine model of ALS vs. respective controls. We demonstrate that microglia Ager deletion at the age of symptomatic onset, day 90, in SOD1G93A mice extends survival in male but not female mice. Critically, many of the pathways identified in human ALS patients that accompanied increased AGER expression were significantly ameliorated by microglia Ager deletion in male SOD1G93A mice. Our results indicate that microglia RAGE disrupts communications with cell types including astrocytes and neurons, intercellular communication pathways that divert microglia from a homeostatic to an inflammatory and tissue-injurious program. In totality, microglia RAGE contributes to the progression of SOD1G93A murine pathology in male mice and may be relevant in human disease.