Cited by 238Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ResearchBarrier Structure and Function StudiesSpinal Cord Injury Research

Blood–spinal cord barrier disruption contributes to early motor-neuron degeneration in ALS-model mice

Open access
Winkler, Ethan A., Sengillo, Jesse D., Sagare, Abhay P., Zhao, Zhen, Ma, Qingyi, Zuniga, Edward, Wang, Yaoming, Zhong, Zhihui +4 more·2014·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Abstract

Significance: The blood–spinal cord barrier (BSCB) is damaged in human ALS and rodents expressing ALS-associated superoxide dismutase mutations. The role of BSCB breakdown in disease pathogenesis remains, however, unclear. Early motor-neuron dysfunction and injury are now shown to be proportional to the degree of BSCB disruption, and early protection of the BSCB integrity with an activated protein C analog is found to delay onset of motor-neuron impairment and degeneration. Altogether, these findings in mice show that BSCB breakdown plays a role in early-stage disease pathogenesis and that restoring BSCB integrity retards the disease process. These findings are relevant to the corresponding disease mechanism in human ALS in which ALS-associated vascular pathology is associated.

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Crossref · 10.1073/pnas.1401595111

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  • Studies in SOD1 transgenic mice expressing dismutase-active (G93A and G37R) and dismutase-inactive (G85R) mutations have suggested that BSCB breakdown occurs before motor neuron injury.

    “Studies in SOD1 transgenic mice expressing dismutase-active (G93A and G37R) and dismutase-inactive (G85R) mutations have suggested that BSCB breakdown occurs before motor neuron injury (194, 415, 651, 687, 688).”

    From Blood-Brain Barrier: From Physiology to Disease and Back (2019) · cites this paper as [651]

    The Results and Discussion report early BSCB breakdown contributing to motor-neuron injury in SOD1G93A mice, supporting the claim for that mutation. The Animals subsection of Materials and Methods identifies G93A mice as the study animals; our copy does not establish the same sequence in G37R or G85R transgenic mice or characterize the mutations by dismutase activity. No page numbers are available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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  • SOD1 G93A mice develop ultrastructural capillary alterations, extravasation of red blood cells, and deposition of fibrin(ogen) and hemosiderin deposits in the brain stem and spinal cord early in the disease.

    “For instance, SOD1 G93A mice develop ultrastructural capillary alterations, extravasation of RBCs, and deposition of fibrin(ogen) and hemosiderin deposits in the brain stem and spinal cord early in the disease (194, 651, 687).”

    From Blood-Brain Barrier: From Physiology to Disease and Back (2019) · cites this paper as [651]

    The Results and Discussion report presymptomatic spinal-cord capillary barrier changes, erythrocyte extravasation, and hemosiderin deposits in SOD1G93A mice. Our copy does not establish the claimed ultrastructural capillary alterations or early fibrin(ogen) deposits in these mice, nor does it locate these findings in the brainstem. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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  • Blood-brain barrier damage causing extravasation of red blood cells that leads to iron accumulation and oxidant stress can be successfully controlled by iron chelation therapy and/or antioxidant treatment, as shown in SOD1 G93A mutant mice with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-like disease.

    “On the other hand, BBB damage causing extravasation of RBCs that leads to iron accumulation and oxidant stress can be successfully controlled by the iron chelation therapy and/or antioxidant treatment, as shown in SOD1 G93A mutant mice with ALS-like disease (651).”

    From Blood-Brain Barrier: From Physiology to Disease and Back (2019) · cites this paper as [651]

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  • Sealing the BBB reversed the course of motor neuron disorder in SOD1 G93A mutant ALS mice.

    “Similarly, sealing BBB reversed the course of motor neuron disorder in SOD1 G93A mutant ALS mice (651).”

    From Blood-Brain Barrier: From Physiology to Disease and Back (2019) · cites this paper as [651]

    The Results and Discussion report that restoring the blood–spinal cord barrier (BSCB) in SOD1G93A mice delayed motor impairment and prevented early degenerative changes. They do not report that sealing the blood–brain barrier (BBB) reversed the disease course; the paper says the contribution of BBB damage in these mice is unknown. Page numbers are not provided in our copy's passages. (LLM, conf=0.89)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Winkler, E. A., Sengillo, J. D., Sagare, A. P., Zhao, Z., Ma, Q., Zuniga, E., Wang, Y., Zhong, Z., Sullivan, J. S., Griffin, J. H., Cleveland, D. W., & Zlokovic, B. V.
Affiliations
  • University of Southern California (US)
  • Sichuan University (CN)
  • Scripps Research Institute (US)
  • University of California San Diego (US)
  • Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Center for Neurodegeneration and Regeneration, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089;
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Published
2014-03-03
Volume
111
Issue
11
Pages
E1035-42
ISSN
  • 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
  • 1091-6490
OpenAlex
W2020061739
Cited by
238
References
9
Citations by year
2026: 13 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 33 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 24 · 2015: 22 · 2014: 8
FWCI
16.09
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • The Scholars Repository - LLU (Loma Linda University) (submittedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Wellcome Trust (089701)
  • National Institute on Aging (R01AG023084, R01AG039452, AG23084, R37AG023084, AG039452, P50AG005142)
  • National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (HL031950, HL052246, R01HL052246, R01HL021544, P01HL031950, R37HL052246)
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R37NS034467, NS 27036, NS34467, R37NS027036, R01NS034467, R01NS027036)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Barrier Structure and Function Studies
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Spinal Cord Injury Research
Keywords
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, blood-spinal cord barrier, blood-brain barrier disruption, motor neuron degeneration, SOD1 G93A mice, hemoglobin accumulation, iron accumulation, oxidative stress, microvascular lesions, warfarin, iron chelation, antioxidant treatment, neurodegeneration
MeSH terms
Superoxide Dismutase-1, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Animals, Ferrocyanides, Humans, Male, Mice, Transgenic, Motor Neurons, Nerve Degeneration, Protein C, Spinal Cord, Superoxide Dismutase, Warfarin, Immunoblotting, Point Mutation, Microscopy, Confocal, In Situ Nick-End Labeling, Rotarod Performance Test, Blood-Nerve Barrier, Mice, Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction, Tight Junction Proteins

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