: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by the loss of upper and lower motor neurons, which lead to death between 1 to 6 years after becoming symptomatic. Mutations in superoxide dismutase (SOD) are linked to 2-3 percent of the cases of ALS and are the only proven cause of the disease. We found that these mutations weaken the structure of the protein, which decreases the affinity for zinc. Both wild type and mutant zinc-deficient SOD induce apoptosis in cultured motor neurons by a mechanism requiring nitric oxide. However, both wild type and mutant copper and zinc-containing SOD prevent motor neuron apoptosis induced by trophic factor deprivation. These results suggest that mutant SOD protein can be functional and protective when it is replete with copper and zinc but becomes toxic after the zinc atom is lost. We hypothesize that the gain-of-function that makes SOD toxic is due to the loss of zinc. We further hypothesize that wild type SOD might become zinc-deficient in sporadic ALS mediating motor neuron degeneration. Our results are controversial since they are in apparent contradiction with observation in transgenic mice carrying ALS-mutant SOD. We propose to test our hypothesis in motor neurons purified from transgenic mice over expressing wild type human SOD as well as mice carrying the G93A and G37R ALS-mutant SOD. We also will test the role of nitric oxide in the induction of motor neuron apoptosis by trophic factor deprivation and Zn-deficient SOD by using motor neurons purified from mice """"""""knockout"""""""" for neuronal or endothelial nitric oxide synthase. The results of these investigations will help to solve some controversy on the mechanism of ALS-mutant SOD toxicity and will provide new insight in the mechanism of motor neuron degeneration in ALS that could result in the development of new therapeutic strategies.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01NS042834-04
Application #
6824895
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-MDCN-2 (01))
Program Officer
Refolo, Lorenzo
Project Start
2001-12-15
Project End
2005-11-30
Budget Start
2004-12-01
Budget End
2005-11-30
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2005
Total Cost
$272,650
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Alabama Birmingham
Department
Physiology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
063690705
City
Birmingham
State
AL
Country
United States
Zip Code
35294
Viera, Liliana; Radmilovich, Milka; Vargas, Marcelo R et al. (2013) Temporal patterns of tyrosine nitration in embryo heart development. Free Radic Biol Med 55:101-8
Franco, Maria Clara; Ye, Yaozu; Refakis, Christian A et al. (2013) Nitration of Hsp90 induces cell death. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 110:E1102-11
Sahawneh, Mary Anne; Ricart, Karina C; Roberts, Blaine R et al. (2010) Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase increases toxicity of mutant and zinc-deficient superoxide dismutase by enhancing protein stability. J Biol Chem 285:33885-97
Estevez, Alvaro G (2007) Good science shows the way. Highlight Commentary on ""Redox proteomics analysis of oxidatively modified proteins in G93A-SOD1 transgenic mice--a model of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis"". Free Radic Biol Med 43:163-4
Lu, Liang; Zheng, Lei; Viera, Liliana et al. (2007) Mutant Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis destabilizes vascular endothelial growth factor mRNA and downregulates its expression. J Neurosci 27:7929-38
Estevez, Alvaro G; Sahawneh, Mary Anne; Lange, Philipp S et al. (2006) Arginase 1 regulation of nitric oxide production is key to survival of trophic factor-deprived motor neurons. J Neurosci 26:8512-6
Ricart, Karina; J Pearson Jr, Richard; Viera, Liliana et al. (2006) Interactions between beta-neuregulin and neurotrophins in motor neuron apoptosis. J Neurochem 97:222-33
Schonhoff, Christopher M; Matsuoka, Masaaki; Tummala, Hemachand et al. (2006) S-nitrosothiol depletion in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 103:2404-9
Shacka, J J; Sahawneh, M A; Gonzalez, J D et al. (2006) Two distinct signaling pathways regulate peroxynitrite-induced apoptosis in PC12 cells. Cell Death Differ 13:1506-14
Pehar, Mariana; Cassina, Patricia; Vargas, Marcelo R et al. (2004) Astrocytic production of nerve growth factor in motor neuron apoptosis: implications for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. J Neurochem 89:464-73

Showing the most recent 10 out of 13 publications