3374)

3374). Table 1 sALS and control cases that provided specimens GSK2807 Trifluoroacetate for this study and models of em C9orf72 /em -related ALS2,3,4 and sALS.7 Combining these findings with those of the present study suggests that the disruption of nucleocytoplasmic transport underlies the pathomechanism of motor neuronal degeneration in sALS, as well as in some cases of genetic ALS. antibodies, and then visualized using appropriate secondary antibodies. The sections were then examined under a fluorescence microscope. Results NUP62 and KPNB1 immunoreactivity appeared as a smooth round rim bordering the nuclear margin in normal spinal motor neurons that exhibited nuclear TDP-43 immunoreactivity. sALS spinal motor neurons with apparent TDP-43 mislocalization demonstrated irregular, disrupted nuclear staining Abcc4 for NUP62 GSK2807 Trifluoroacetate or KPNB1. Some atrophic sALS spinal motor neurons with TDP-43 mislocalization presented no NUP62 immunoreactivity. Conclusions Our findings suggest a close relationship between NPC alterations and TDP-43 pathology in the degenerative process of the motor neurons of sALS patients. mouse models of ALS.2,3,4 Moreover, morphological changes in the nuclear membrane are associated with the disruption of nucleoporins in the motor neurons of patients with sALS or SOD1-associated ALS.5,6,7 In addition, mutations in the gene encoding GLE1 (a nucleoporin) have been reported in patients with ALS.8 Disruption of nucleoporins has been reported in an sALS mouse model (ADAR2flox/flox/VAChT-Cre or AR2 mice),9 in which the adenosine deaminase acting on RNA 2 (ADAR2) was conditionally knocked out.10 Analogous changes in nucleoporins have also been observed in preliminary studies of the ADAR2-deficient motor neurons of sALS GSK2807 Trifluoroacetate patients.10 ADAR2 regulates Ca2+ influx through -amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA) receptors via adenosine-to-inosine conversion at the glutamine/arginine site of GluA2 mRNA, which makes ADAR2 is a key factor in acquired Ca2+ resistance in motor neurons. Disease-specific and site-selective deficiency of ADAR2 has been demonstrated in sALS motor neurons,11,12,13 and ADAR2 deficiency is closely associated with the death of motor neurons in conditional ADAR2-knockout mice.9 Notably, ADAR2 down-regulation along with pathology of the 43-kDa TAR DNA-binding protein (TDP-43) that is one of the most-reliable pathological hallmarks of ALS14,15 have been observed concomitantly in the motor neurons of ALS patients.16 The mechanism underlying the co-occurrence of these two molecular abnormalities within the same neurons involves an exaggerated Ca2+ influx and activation of calpain (a Ca2+-dependent cysteine protease) in the ADAR2-deficient motor neurons, and the resultant calpain-dependent TDP-43 fragments serve as seeds for TDP-43 aggregation.17 These findings suggest that ADAR2 deficiency is involved in the pathophysiology of motor neuron degeneration in sALS. TDP-43 pathology is invariably GSK2807 Trifluoroacetate observed in motor neurons that are devoid of ADAR2.16 We suspect that the GSK2807 Trifluoroacetate precise morphological relationship between the formation of TDP-43 aggregation and the alteration of nucleoporin expression in sALS motor neurons further reflects the role of nucleoporins in ALS. In this study we examined the expression of nucleoporin p62 (NUP62), a central nucleoporin containing phenylalanine-glycine repeats, and karyopherin beta 1 (KPNB1), a nucleocytoplasmic transport master regulatory protein,18 in relation to TDP-43 pathology. METHODS Human subjects Spinal cords were obtained from seven control cases and six sALS patients after autopsy. The cases used in this study are listed in Table 1. Written informed consent for performing the autopsy and approval to use autopsy tissue specimens for research purposes was obtained from each patient or their family. The research protocol used in this study was approved by the Institutional Human Ethics Committee of Tokyo Medical University (No. 3374). Table 1 sALS and control cases that provided specimens for this study and models of em C9orf72 /em -related ALS2,3,4 and sALS.7 Combining these findings with those of the present study suggests that the disruption of nucleocytoplasmic transport underlies the pathomechanism of motor neuronal degeneration in sALS, as well as in some cases of genetic ALS. Further studies are required to elucidate the role of the NPC in nucleocytoplasmic transport in sALS. Acknowledgements We are profoundly thankful to the patients and families that generously donated tissues for the present study, and to Sayaka Oomura for her assistance. This work was supported in part by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan to T. Yamashita (Grants No: 2546112690) and S. Kwak (Grants No: 22390173), and was sponsored by the ALS Foundation of the Japan ALS Association. Footnotes Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no financial conflicts of interest..