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The Journal of Neuroscience, August 23, 2006, 26(34):8774-8786; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2315-06.2006

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Neurobiology of Disease
Complete Dissociation of Motor Neuron Death from Motor Dysfunction by Bax Deletion in a Mouse Model of ALS

Thomas W. Gould,¹ Robert R. Buss,¹ Sharon Vinsant,¹ David Prevette,¹ Woong Sun,² C. Michael Knudson,³ Carol E. Milligan,¹ and Ronald W. Oppenheim¹

¹Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy and Program in Neuroscience, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157-1010, ²Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, Brain Korea 21, Korea University, Sungbuk-Gu, Seoul 136-705, Korea, and ³Department of Pathology, The University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille P. Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa 52242

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Ronald W. Oppenheim at the above address. Email: roppenhm{at}wfubmc.edu

The death of cranial and spinal motoneurons (MNs) is believed to be an essential component of the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We tested this hypothesis by crossing Bax-deficient mice with mice expressing mutant superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1), a transgenic model of familial ALS. Although Bax deletion failed to prevent neuromuscular denervation and mitochondrial vacuolization, MNs were completely rescued from mutant SOD1-mediated death. However, Bax deficiency extended lifespan and delayed the onset of motor dysfunction of SOD1 mutants, suggesting that Bax acts via a mechanism distinct from cell death activation. Consistent with this idea, Bax elimination delayed the onset of neuromuscular denervation, which began long before the activation of cell death proteins in SOD1 mutants. Additionally, we show that denervation preceded accumulation of mutant SOD1 within MNs and astrogliosis in the spinal cord, which are also both delayed in Bax-deficient SOD1 mutants. Interestingly, MNs exhibited mitochondrial abnormalities at the innervated neuromuscular junction at the onset of neuromuscular denervation. Additionally, both MN presynaptic terminals and terminal Schwann cells expressed high levels of mutant SOD1 before MNs withdrew their axons. Together, these data support the idea that clinical symptoms in the SOD1 G93A model of ALS result specifically from damage to the distal motor axon and not from activation of the death pathway, and cast doubt on the utility of anti-apoptotic therapies to combat ALS. Furthermore, they suggest a novel, cell death-independent role for Bax in facilitating mutant SOD1-mediated motor denervation.

Key words: ALS; motoneuron; cell death; denervation; synaptic; axonopathy

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Received April 28, 2006; revised June 30, 2006; accepted July 6, 2006.

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Ronald W. Oppenheim at the above address. Email: roppenhm{at}wfubmc.edu

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Neuromuscular Denervation: Bax up against the Wall in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Andrew D. Steele and Caroline H. Yi
J. Neurosci. 2006 26: 12849-12851. [Full Text]  

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