1. Alterations in AQP4 expression and polarization in the course of motor neuron degeneration in SOD1G93A mice
- Author
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Chuanming Luo, Baixuan He, Jiaying Dai, Minying Zheng, Huanxing Su, Xi-Lin Lu, Xiaoli Yao, Zhong Pei, Weihao Lin, and Qiang Liu
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Genetically modified mouse ,Male ,Cancer Research ,Pathology ,medicine.medical_specialty ,amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ,aquaporin-4 polarization ,SOD1 ,Central nervous system ,Mice, Transgenic ,Degeneration (medical) ,Biology ,Biochemistry ,glutamate transporter 1 ,03 medical and health sciences ,Mice ,0302 clinical medicine ,astrocyte ,Anterior Horn Cells ,Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein ,Genetics ,medicine ,Animals ,Homeostasis ,superoxide dismutase 1 G93A mice ,Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ,Molecular Biology ,Aquaporin 4 ,Motor Neurons ,Superoxide Dismutase ,Articles ,Motor neuron ,medicine.disease ,Spinal cord ,Disease Models, Animal ,030104 developmental biology ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Oncology ,Spinal Cord ,Astrocytes ,Nerve Degeneration ,Disease Progression ,Molecular Medicine ,sense organs ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Immunostaining - Abstract
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by selective degeneration of upper and lower motor neurons. The disease progression is associated with the astrocytic environment. Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) water channels are the most abundant AQPs expressed in astrocytes, exerting important influences on central nervous system homeostasis. The present study aimed to characterize the alterations in AQP4 expression and loca-lization in superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) G93A transgenic mice. SOD1G93A mice were sacrificed during the presymptomatic, disease onset and end stages and immunostaining was performed on spinal cord sections to investigate neuronal loss, glial activation and AQP4 expression in the spinal cord. It was observed that global AQP4 expression increased in the spinal cord of SOD1G93A mice as the disease progressed. However, AQP4 polarization decreased as the disease progressed, and AQP4 polarized localization at the endfeet of astrocytes was decreased in the spinal ventral horn of SOD1G93A mice at the disease onset and end stages. Meanwhile, motor neuron dege-neration and decreased glutamate transporter 1 expression in astrocytes in SOD1G93A mice were observed as the disease progressed. The results of the present study demonstrated that AQP4 depolarization is a widespread pathological condition and may contribute to motor neuron degeneration in ALS.
- Published
- 2016