Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0002736 (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis)
 19,048 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

This study investigated the expression of ubiquitin in anterior horn cells of various subgroups of adult-onset motor neuron diseases (MNDs). Ubiquitin-positive skein-like inclusions (SLIs) were found in all 11 cases of sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients, two patients with lower MND, 3 sporadic cases of ALS with dementia, 3 sporadic ALS cases with long-term use of respirators, and two cases of sporadic ALS with Lewy body-like hyaline inclusions. This result suggests that a similar pathomechanism is involved in the degeneration of the lower motor neurons in these subgroups. SLIs were not detected in two cases of adult-onset MND with basophilic inclusions. This may indicate that adult-onset MND with basophilic inclusions is a distinct nosological entity of classical ALS and some relationship to juvenile ALS with basophilic inclusions is suggested.
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PMID:[A comparative immunohistochemical study of ubiquitin-positive skein-like inclusions in anterior horn neurons in subgroups of adult-onset motor neuron diseases]. 812 68

Previous morphological immunoenzymatic studies with organelle-specific antibodies have disclosed an apparent fragmentation of the Golgi apparatus in large numbers of motor neurons in 12 cases of sporadic, non-Guamanian amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in three cases of other types of motor neuron disease and in one case of a mitochondrial myopathy with cytochrome c oxidase deficiency. Motor neurons with fragmented Golgi apparatus were moderately atrophic; in these cells, discrete immunostained elements of the organelle were twice as many as in normal neurons, and the size of each Golgi element and the percentage of the cytoplasmic area occupied by the Golgi apparatus were reduced (Am J Pathol 1992, 140: 731-737). In this report we have confirmed the fragmentation of the organelle of motor neurons in the spinal cord in six sporadic cases of Guamanian ALS. In four of the six cases the clinical course was 1 to 2 years. The percentages of motor neurons with fragmented Golgi apparatus varied from 38 to 92. Motor neurons from three additional cases of Guamanian ALS of clinical duration from 5 to 7 years did not show fragmentation of the Golgi apparatus. In two cases of Guamanian ALS and in one non-Guamanian ALS, all neurons with ubiquitin-positive skein-like or granular inclusions believed to be pathognomonic for ALS had fragmented Golgi apparatus. To examine whether the fragmentation of the Golgi apparatus results from reactions to either neuronal deafferentation or to lesions of proximal axons, we conducted two experimental studies. In the first study, we examined in cats the Golgi apparatus of deafferented neurons of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus. In the second study, we examined the Golgi apparatus of motor neurons in the spinal cord of rats with proximal axonopathy induced by beta,beta'-iminodipropionitrile. In these two experiments, the neuronal Golgi apparatus studied by immunoenzymatic techniques and morphometry, was not fragmented. Taken together, the results of these studies strongly suggest that the fragmentation of the Golgi apparatus of motor neurons in ALS represents an important and perhaps early change of the organelle that may be involved in the pathogenesis of ALS. The fragmentation of the Golgi apparatus of motor neurons is a fairly specific and easily recognizable marker of ALS and may be used together with other criteria for comparisons between the human disease and proposed animal models of the disorder.
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PMID:Fragmentation of the Golgi apparatus of motor neurons in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Clinical studies in ALS of Guam and experimental studies in deafferented neurons and in beta,beta'-iminodipropionitrile axonopathy. 820 67

Ubiquitinated cytoplasmic inclusions are a characteristic feature of the neuronal pathology of neurodegenerative diseases. Immunocytochemical techniques have identified intermediate filaments associated with ubiquitin-immunoreactive inclusions in Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and Pick's disease; however, no core protein has been detected in the ubiquitinated inclusions in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The pathogenesis of these inclusions is not known, but the inclusion may result from an accumulation of an abnormal proteins. Here we report a novel protein of 32.5 kDa detected by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, in the spinal cord in ALS patients. A polyclonal antibody raised against this protein and used for Western blotting, suggests that the novel protein is related to actin. Immunocytochemical studies using this antibody indicate that the protein is found in Lewy body-like inclusions in anterior horn cells of ALS, and in Lewy bodies in the substantia nigra in PD.
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PMID:Antibody to an abnormal protein in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis identifies Lewy body-like inclusions in ALS and Lewy bodies in Parkinson's disease. 824 23

Immunochemical staining to detect ubiquitin has become an essential technique in evaluating neurodegenerative processes. Age related staining is seen in myelin, in nerve processes in lysosome-related dense bodies, and in corpora amylacea. There is a constant association between filamentous inclusions and the presence of ubiquitin. Intermediate filaments associated with ubiquitin, alpha B crystallin and enzymes of the ubiquitin pathway are the basis of Lewy bodies and Rosenthal fibres, as well as related bodies outside the nervous system. Neurofibrillary tangles in diverse diseases are associated with ubiquitin as are several other tau containing inclusions in both neurones and glia. Inclusions in motor neurones and non-motor cortex characterizing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and certain related forms of frontal lobe dementia can only be readily detected by anti-ubiquitin. Anti-ubiquitin also identifies both filamentous and lysosomal structures in neuronal processes as well as in some swollen neurones. Involvement of ubiquitin-containing elements of the lysosomal system appears important in pathogenesis of prion encephalopathies. Despite great advances in understanding cell biology of the ubiquitin pathway there are as yet few insights into the precise role played by ubiquitin in neuronal disease.
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PMID:Ubiquitin in neurodegenerative diseases. 826 84

Ubiquitin is a stress protein implicated in the degradation of short-lived and abnormal proteins. In a neuropathological study of 43 cases with motor neuron disease/amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (MND/ALS) and 44 control cases the distribution and specificity of Bunina bodies and ubiquitin-reactive inclusions (UBRI) were investigated. The primary motor area showed nerve cell loss in 67%, Bunina bodies in Betz cells (10%) and UBRI in small pyramidal cells (17%). Degeneration of anterior horn cells in all cases coincided with Bunina bodies (84%) and UBRI (98%) in the same location; the motor nuclei of the caudal brain stem were also involved almost to the same degree. More resistant nuclei like the oculomotor nuclei or the Onuf's nucleus showed no degeneration but UBRI in 11% and 18% of cases, respectively. Like the degenerative process, the formation of UBRI was not confined to motor nuclei but also involved the brain stem reticular formation, substantia nigra, and Clarke's nucleus showing that MND/ALS is a multiple system degeneration. UBRI were found in only one control case in the anterior horn cells and in one case in the hypoglossal nucleus showing that UBRI, although not being absolutely specific for MND/ALS, have practical value for the neuropathological diagnosis of that disease. The pathogenetical implications of UBRI in MND/ALS are discussed.
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PMID:Motor neuron disease/amyotrophic lateral sclerosis--lessons from ubiquitin. 830 13

Motorneurons which are primarily affected in ALS cannot be sampled during life. Morphological, biochemical, ultrastructural and molecular investigations can be only performed on post-mortem material. No animal model reproduce adequately ALS. All these features and the low ALS incidence and the absence of definite clusters stress the need for brain banking in Europe. We present the protocol which is followed in our centers. The clinical information is supplied by neurologists in order to provide clinical data necessary for an accurate interpretation of pathological features. Initial symptomathology, duration and type of ALS, cause of death and a simple disability scale shortly before death are included. CNS relevant samples stained with H-E, luxol fast blue, the Marchi impregnation technique and immunostained with ubiquitin, are used for diagnosis. Samples for Golgi impregnation and immunohistochemistry are also obtained and the remaining tissue is frozen. Classical criteria for pathological diagnosis include: neurogenic changes in muscles, loss of motorneurons and degeneration of corticospinal tracts. We propose new diagnostic criteria based only on CNS examination. Muscle tissue is not always available and other classical criteria could be absent in rapid evolution or early death cases. Our criteria includes: a) Major criteria: loss or degeneration (chromatolysis, basophilia or neuronophagia) of motorneurons in brainstem and/or spinal cord, degeneration of corticospinal tracts. b) Minor criteria: axonal spheroids, Bunina bodies, ubiquitin-immunoreactives bodies. Criteria necessary for the pathological diagnosis are discussed and the need to quantify neuronal loss in relation to age-matched controls is stressed.
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PMID:Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis brain banking: a proposal to standardize protocols and neuropathological diagnostic criteria. 836 Jun 61

We ultrastructurally investigated Bunina bodies (BB) in the anterior horn neurons of 20 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients with BB. As for novel findings, filaments thicker than neurofilaments were not uncommonly observed inside the BB. They were occasionally observed around the periphery of the BB. Some of them were composed of bundles of filaments which appeared constricted at 40-50 nm intervals and were 20-25 nm in maximum width. Others consisted of bundles of unconstricted filaments measuring about 20-25 nm in diameter. The BB occasionally contained bundles of filaments of about 20 nm in diameter that closely resembled those found in ubiquitin-positive skein-like inclusions. It seems that some molecular disturbances such as ubiquitin play a role in the formation of the constricted and unconstricted filaments. Probably cytoskeletal or non-cytoskeletal proteins in anterior horn cells are damaged and accumulate to form aggregation of the filaments associated with BB.
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PMID:Ultrastructural study of Bunina bodies in the anterior horn neurons of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. 836 23

This report concerns the expression of ubiquitin in anterior horn cells of various subgroups of adult and infantile motor neuron disease (MNDs); immunohistochemical techniques were employed. Ubiquitin-positive skein-like inclusions (SLIs) were found in all cases of adult-onset amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), including 16 cases with sporadic ALS, two cases of familial ALS with posterior column degeneration and Lewy body-like hyaline inclusions (LBHIs), two sporadic ALS cases with LBHIs, and three cases of sporadic ALS with dementia. SLIs were not found in anterior horn cells of 5 cases with Werdnig-Hoffmann disease (WHD). However, granular ubiquitin-positive deposits were seen in ballooned neurons of WHD patients. No ubiquitinated materials were found in the perikarya of two sporadic juvenile ALS patients with basophilic inclusions (BIs), but granular ubiquitin-immunoreactive deposits were occasionally observed in the BIs. These results suggest that ubiquitin-positive SLIs are characteristic features of various forms of adult-onset ALS and that aggregated ubiquitinated granules are characteristic of ballooned neurons of WHD. Ubiquitinated structures and their distribution patterns may reflect degenerative processes of anterior horn cells, and may be useful for classifying subgroups of motor neuron diseases.
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PMID:Ubiquitin-positive inclusion in anterior horn cells in subgroups of motor neuron diseases: a comparative study of adult-onset amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, juvenile amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Werdnig-Hoffmann disease. 838

Ubiquitin has been shown by immunohistochemical studies to be a component of many of the filamentous inclusion bodies that are known in neuropathology. In the current study, we examined the expression of ubiquitin in 14 cases of typical inclusion body myositis, in skeletal muscle specimens from four cases of typical amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and in muscle specimens from three normal controls. In the cases of inclusion body myositis, rimmed vacuoles were ubiquitin immunoreactive in all cases. Intrasarcoplasmic inclusions were positive in the nine cases that had them. In four cases, there were positive intranuclear inclusions, and in seven, there was homogeneous staining of nuclei. Atrophic fibers and necrotic fibers were positive in 11 and nine cases, respectively. In the cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, atrophic fibers were positive in three cases, and focal nuclear staining was seen in two. In one of the three control cases, a few atrophic fibers had faint sarcoplasmic positivity; no other staining was seen. We conclude that ubiquitin is a component of the inclusions that characterize inclusion body myositis. However, ubiquitin expression in skeletal muscle disease is not pathognomonic of inclusion body myositis.
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PMID:Ubiquitin expression in inclusion body myositis. An immunohistochemical study. 839 51

We examined patterns of neuronal degeneration in the motor cortex of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients using traditional cell stains and several histochemical markers including neurofilament, parvalbumin, NADPH-diaphorase, ubiquitin, Alz-50 and tau. Three grades of ALS (mild, moderate, severe) were defined based on the extent of Betz cell depletion. Non-phosphorylated neurofilament immunoreactive cortical pyramidal neurons and non-pyramidal parvalbumin local circuit neurons were significantly depleted in all grades of ALS. In contrast, NADPH-diaphorase neurons and Alz-50-positive neurons were quantitatively preserved despite reduced NADPH-diaphorase cellular staining and dendritic pruning. The density of ubiquitin-positive structures in the middle and deep layers of the motor cortex was increased in all cases. Axonal tau immunoreactivity was not altered. These histochemical results suggest that cortical degeneration in ALS is distinctive from other neurodegenerative diseases affecting cerebral cortex. Unlike Huntington's disease, both pyramidal and local cortical neurons are affected in ALS; unlike Alzheimer's disease, alteration of the neuronal cytoskeleton is not prominent. The unique pattern of neuronal degeneration found in ALS motor cortex is consistent with non-N-methyl-D-aspartate glutamate receptor-mediated cytotoxicity.
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PMID:Patterns of neuronal degeneration in the motor cortex of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients. 839 37


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