Sensory involvement in the SOD1-G93A mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Exp Mol Med. 2009 Mar 31;41(3):140-50. doi: 10.3858/emm.2009.41.3.017.

Abstract

A subset of patients of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) present with mutation of Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1), and such mutants caused an ALS- like disorder when expressed in rodents. These findings implicated SOD1 in ALS pathogenesis and made the transgenic animals a widely used ALS model. However, previous studies of these animals have focused largely on motor neuron damage. We report herein that the spinal cords of mice expressing a human SOD1 mutant (hSOD1-G93A), besides showing typical destruction of motor neurons and axons, exhibit significant damage in the sensory system, including Wallerian-like degeneration in axons of dorsal root and dorsal funiculus, and mitochondrial damage in dorsal root ganglia neurons. Thus, hSOD1-G93A mutation causes both motor and sensory neuropathies, and as such the disease developed in the transgenic mice very closely resembles human ALS.

MeSH terms

  • Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / enzymology
  • Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / pathology*
  • Animals
  • Axons / pathology*
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Ganglia, Spinal / pathology
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Mitochondria / pathology
  • Motor Neurons / metabolism
  • Motor Neurons / pathology
  • Mutation
  • Nerve Degeneration / pathology*
  • Sensory Receptor Cells / pathology*
  • Spinal Cord / pathology*
  • Superoxide Dismutase / genetics
  • Superoxide Dismutase / physiology*
  • Superoxide Dismutase-1

Substances

  • SOD1 protein, human
  • Sod1 protein, mouse
  • Superoxide Dismutase
  • Superoxide Dismutase-1