Cited by 51Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ResearchEndoplasmic Reticulum Stress and DiseasePluripotent Stem Cells Research

A Stem Cell-Based Screening Platform Identifies Compounds that Desensitize Motor Neurons to Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress

Open access
Thams, Sebastian, Lowry, Emily Rhodes, Larraufie, Marie-Hélène, Spiller, Krista J., Li, Hai, Williams, Damian J., Hoang, Phuong, Jiang, Elise +8 more·2019·Molecular Therapy

Abstract

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease selectively targeting motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. The reasons for differential motor neuron susceptibility remain elusive. We developed a stem cell-based motor neuron assay to study cell-autonomous mechanisms causing motor neuron degeneration, with implications for ALS. A small-molecule screen identified cyclopiazonic acid (CPA) as a stressor to which stem cell-derived motor neurons were more sensitive than interneurons. CPA induced endoplasmic reticulum stress and the unfolded protein response. Furthermore, CPA resulted in an accelerated degeneration of motor neurons expressing human superoxide dismutase 1 (hSOD1) carrying the ALS-causing G93A mutation, compared to motor neurons expressing wild-type hSOD1. A secondary screen identified compounds that alleviated CPA-mediated motor neuron degeneration: three kinase inhibitors and tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA), a bile acid derivative. The neuroprotective effects of these compounds were validated in human stem cell-derived motor neurons carrying a mutated SOD1 allele (hSOD1 A4V ). Moreover, we found that the administration of TUDCA in an hSOD1 G93A mouse model of ALS reduced muscle denervation. Jointly, these results provide insights into the mechanisms contributing to the preferential susceptibility of ALS motor neurons, and they demonstrate the utility of stem cell-derived motor neurons for the discovery of new neuroprotective compounds.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.ymthe.2018.10.010

Cites

102 of 102 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

We couldn’t retrieve this paper’s full text, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • TUDCA has neuroprotective effects in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, including protection against cyclopiazonic acid-induced degeneration and enhanced neuromuscular junction innervation in hSOD1G93A models.

    “The existing evidence strongly supports the neuroprotective effects of TUDCA in ALS. TUDCA has been found to confer protection against cyclopiazonic acid-induced degeneration in both mouse and human stem cell-derived hSOD1G93A motor neurons.”

Cites

1 retracted

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Thams, S., Lowry, E. R., Larraufie, M.-H., Spiller, K. J., Li, H., Williams, D. J., Hoang, P., Jiang, E., Williams, L. A., Sandoe, J., Eggan, K., Lieberam, I., Kanning, K. C., Stockwell, B. R., Henderson, C. E., & Wichterle, H.
Affiliations
  • Columbia University Irving Medical Center (US)
  • Columbia University (US)
  • Harvard University (US)
  • King's College London (GB)
Corresponding author
  • Thams, Sebastian
  • Wichterle, Hynek
Venue
Molecular Therapy
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2019-01
Volume
27
Issue
1
Pages
87-101
ISSN
1525-0016 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2896496883
Cited by
51
References
102
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 1
FWCI
2.04
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Molecular Therapy (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research Portal (King's College London) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Funders
  • Project ALS
  • Target ALS
  • NIH (NS078097)
  • DoD (W81XWH-16-1-0204)
  • Swedish Wenner-Gren Foundation
  • The Foundation BLANCEFLOR Boncompagni Ludovisi, née Bildt
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Disease
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Pluripotent Stem Cells Research
Keywords
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, motor neuron degeneration, endoplasmic reticulum stress, unfolded protein response, cyclopiazonic acid, SOD1 G93A mutation, tauroursodeoxycholic acid, kinase inhibitors, small molecule screening, neuroprotection, muscle denervation, ALS mouse model
MeSH terms
Superoxide Dismutase-1, Animals, Cells, Cultured, Disease Models, Animal, Humans, Indoles, Motor Neurons, Mutation, Stem Cells, Taurochenodeoxycholic Acid, Mice, Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review