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

Formation of cytoplasmic aggregates in neuronal and glial cells is one of the pathological hallmarks of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Mutations in two genes encoding transactivation response (TAR) DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) and fused in sarcoma (FUS), both of which are main constituents of cytoplasmic aggregates, have been identified in patients with familial and sporadic ALS. Impairment of protein degradation machineries has also been recognized to participate in motoneuron degeneration in ALS. In the present study, we produced recombinant adenovirus vectors encoding wild type and mutant TDP-43 and FUS, and those encoding short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) for proteasome (PSMC1), autophagy (ATG5), and endosome (VPS24) systems to investigate whether the coupled gene transductions in motoneurons by these adenoviruses elicit ALS pathology. Cultured neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes differentiated from adult rat neural stem cells and motoneurons derived from mouse embryonic stem cells were successfully infected with these adenoviruses showing cytoplasmic aggregate formation. When these adenoviruses were injected into the facial nerves of adult rats, exogenous TDP-43 and FUS proteins were strongly expressed in facial motoneurons by a retrograde axonal transport of the adenoviruses. Co-infections of adenovirus encoding shRNA for PSMC1, ATG5 or VPS24 with TDP-43 or FUS adenovirus enhanced cytoplasmic aggregate formation in facial motoneurons, suggesting that impairment of protein degradation pathways accelerates formation of TDP-43 and FUS-positive aggregates in ALS.
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PMID:Adenoviral expression of TDP-43 and FUS genes and shRNAs for protein degradation pathways in rodent motoneurons in vitro and in vivo. 2393 86

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive and ultimately fatal neurodegenerative disease. Pyrazolone containing small molecules have shown significant disease attenuating efficacy in cellular and murine models of ALS. Pyrazolone based affinity probes were synthesized to identify high affinity binding partners and ascertain a potential biological mode of action. Probes were confirmed to be neuroprotective in PC12-SOD1(G93A) cells. PC12-SOD1(G93A) cell lysates were used for protein pull-down, affinity purification, and subsequent proteomic analysis using LC-MS/MS. Proteomics identified the 26S proteasome regulatory subunit 4 (PSMC1), 26S proteasome regulatory subunit 6B (PSMC4), and T-complex protein 1 (TCP-1) as putative protein targets. Coincubation with appropriate competitors confirmed the authenticity of the proteomics results. Activation of the proteasome by pyrazolones was demonstrated in the absence of exogenous proteasome inhibitor and by restoration of cellular protein degradation of a fluorogenic proteasome substrate in PC12-SOD1(G93A) cells. Importantly, supplementary studies indicated that these molecules do not induce a heat shock response. We propose that pyrazolones represent a rare class of molecules that enhance proteasomal activation in the absence of a heat shock response and may have therapeutic potential in ALS.
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PMID:Proteasome activation is a mechanism for pyrazolone small molecules displaying therapeutic potential in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. 2500 11