UMLS:C0002736 - FACTA Search

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Query: UMLS:C0002736 (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis)
19,048 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A major step in the elucidation of the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders was the identification of a mutation in the alpha-synuclein gene in autosomal dominant Parkinson's disease (PD). Alpha-synuclein is the main component of Lewy bodies (LB), the neuropathological hallmark of PD. Moreover, a fragment of alpha-synuclein (NAC) is the second major component of amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recent studies of other neurodegenerative disorders such as dementia with LB (DLB), multiple system atrophy (MSA) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) also revealed intracellular accumulations of alpha-synuclein in affected brain regions. This may indicate that these disorders partially share common pathogenic mechanisms. Recent data provide first insights into the physiological function of alpha-synuclein and support the concept of an essential role of alpha-synuclein in neurodegeneration. Increasing knowledge on the pathogenic molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration and of the pathophysiological function of alpha-synuclein in particular may influence future development of therapeutic strategies in neurodegenerative disorders.
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PMID:Involvement of alpha-synuclein in Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. 1080 1

Recently, mutations of the alpha-synuclein gene were found to cause dominantly inherited Lewy-body Parkinson's disease (PD) and alpha-synuclein was identified as a major component of the Lewy body. However, the cause of the common form of PD, with a multifactorial rather than autosomal dominant inheritance pattern, remains unknown. Alpha-synuclein precipitates slowly and apparently spontaneously at high concentration in solution and the mutations that cause PD accelerate precipitation. Other dominantly inherited late-onset or adult-onset dominantly inherited neurodegenerative diseases are associated with precipitation of proteins. In Alzheimer disease, beta-amyloid and tau abnormalities are present and in prion disorders, prion proteins are found. In Huntington disease, a disorder with expanded CAG repeats, huntingtin precipitates occur. In dominantly inherited spinocerebellar ataxias, also expanded CAG repeat disorders, the corresponding ataxin protein precipitates are found. In multiple system atrophy, alpha-synuclein precipitates are encountered and in progressive supranuclear palsy, tau precipitates occur. In familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a group of dominantly inherited disorders, SOD1 precipitates are found. Most of these disorders can involve the basal ganglia in some way. Since similar processes seem to affect neurons of adults or older individuals and since a relatively limited group of proteins seems to be involved, each producing a form of neurodegeneration, it is possible that certain common features are present that affect this group of proteins. Candidates include a conformational shift, as in prions, an abnormality of the ubiquitin-proteosome pathway, as seen in PD, an abnormality of a pathway preventing precipitation (e.g. chaperonins), or potentiation of a pathway promoting precipitation (e.g. gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase) or apoptosis. Elucidation of the pathways causing this protein insolubilisation is the first step towards approaching prevention and reversal in these late-onset neurodegenerative diseases.
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PMID:Late-onset neurodegenerative diseases--the role of protein insolubility. 1092 91

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/parkinsonism-dementia complex (ALS/PDC) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder of Chamorro residents of Guam and the Mariana Islands, characterized by abundant neuron loss and tau neurofibrillary pathology similar to that observed in Alzheimer's disease (AD). A variety of neurodegenerative diseases with tau pathology including ALS/PDC also have alpha-synuclein positive pathology, primarily in the amygdala. We further characterized the tau and alpha-synuclein pathology in the amygdala of a large series of 30 Chamorros using immunohistochemical and biochemical techniques. Tau pathology was readily detected in both affected and unaffected Chamorros. In contrast, alpha-synuclein pathology was detected in 37% of patients with PDC but not detected in Chamorros without PDC or AD. The alpha-synuclein aggregates often co-localized within neurons harboring neurofibrillary tangles suggesting a possible interaction between the two proteins. Tau and alpha-synuclein pathology within the amygdala is biochemically similar to that observed in AD and synucleinopathies, respectively. Thus, the amygdala may be selectively vulnerable to developing both tau and alpha-synuclein pathology or tau pathology may predispose it to synuclein aggregation. Furthermore, in PDC, tau and alpha-synuclein pathology occurs independent of beta-amyloid deposition in amygdala thereby implicating the aggregation of these molecules in the severe neurodegeneration frequently observed in this location.
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PMID:Tau and alpha-synuclein pathology in amygdala of Parkinsonism-dementia complex patients of Guam. 1200 Jul 24

Neurodegenerative diseases have long been considered to be poorly defined, misunderstood, and inadequately treated. In recent years, research on Alzheimer's disease has led to numerous advances that have improved our understanding of this form of dementia and also of the entire category of neurodegenerative diseases. It now appears that numerous neurodegenerative diseases of the central nervous system correspond to the aggregation of specific proteins: beta-amyloid in Alzheimer disease, tau protein in Alzheimer disease, fronto-temporal dementia, progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal degeneration, alpha-synuclein in Parkinson disease and Lewy body dementia, PrP protein in prion diseases, SOD in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, polyglutamine expansions in Huntington's disease and other diseases, etc. It is remarkable that in all these cases mutations have been identified for genes coding for these proteins and able to cause the disease and, moreover, that the introduction of the corresponding gene into transgenic mice (or other transgenic animals) has made it possible to create animal models of these conditions. This suggests that the proteins in question play a determinative role in the pathogenesis of these diseases and are not simply consequences of it. Neurodegenerative diseases are proteinopathies. But they are also networkopathies because the neuronal proteins are organized in functional networks. We must also note that all these diseases are associated with the process of aging, for they do not appear in the young. This fact suggests that the anomaly (genetic or otherwise) concerning a given protein does not suffice by itself to induce the disease process. Many observations suggest that the additional event involved, common to all neurodegenerative conditions, may be the intervention of free radicals. We thus propose here the theory that the diversity of neurodegenerative diseases is explained by the combination of two pathogenic events: one specific and associated with the aggregation of a particular protein in the nervous system, the other, non-specific and associated with aging and with the production and harmful actions of free radicals. This unified interpretation leads directly to treatment hypotheses: the development of drugs capable either of inhibiting the production or aggregation of proteins specifically implicated in diverse diseases (or promoting their elimination) or of inhibiting the production or action of free radicals in the nervous system. The former should target one of these various diseases, and the latter should act on a wide range of diseases. The two approaches may conceivably be combined.
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PMID:[Proteins and mutations: a new vision (molecular) of neurodegenerative diseases]. 1213 39

We report two patients with motor neuron disease-inclusion dementia, with special reference to the pathology of the motor neuron system and hippocampal formation. The ages of the patients at death were 55 and 62 years, and the disease durations were 8 and 3 years, respectively. The two patients exhibited progressive frontotemporal dementia in the absence of motor neuron signs. At autopsy, both cases exhibited frontotemporal lobar atrophy with ubiquitin-positive, and tau- and alpha-synuclein-negative neuronal inclusions. As expected from the clinical signs, in both cases, the upper and lower motor neuron systems were well preserved: no Bunina bodies or ubiquitinated inclusions were detected in the motor neurons. However, of great importance was that when visualized immunohistochemically, the Golgi apparatus and trans-Golgi network often exhibited fragmentation in the lower motor neurons (the spinal anterior horn cells). In one of the cases, a decrease in the amount of Golgi apparatus was also a frequent feature in the upper motor neurons (Betz cells in the motor cortex). Moreover, in both cases, circumscribed degeneration affecting the CA1-subiculum border zone was evident in the hippocampal formation. These findings further strengthen the idea that, pathologically, motor neuron disease-inclusion dementia is a rare phenotype of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
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PMID:Pathological involvement of the motor neuron system and hippocampal formation in motor neuron disease-inclusion dementia. 1266 41

We used the SOD1(G93A) transgenic mice as an in vivo model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and performed immunohistochemical studies to investigate whether alpha-synuclein is involved in the pathogenesis of ALS. In the spinal cord of transgenic mice, immunohistochemistry showed intense staining of alpha-synuclein mainly in the anterior horn. In the hippocampus of transgenic mice, differential increases in the staining density of alpha-synuclein were observed. In the cerebellar cortex of transgenic mice, the prominent immunostaining of alpha-synuclein was found in the molecular and granular layers. The present study provides the first in vivo evidence that alpha-synuclein immunoreactivity was increased in the central nervous system of SOD(G93A) transgenic mice, suggesting that alpha-synuclein might play an important role in the pathogenesis of ALS. However, the functional implications of these increases require elucidation.
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PMID:Immunohistochemical study on the distribution of alpha-synuclein in the central nervous system of transgenic mice expressing a human Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase mutation. 1275 87

The causes of Parkinson's disease (PD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are still unknown. Aging, environmental factors and genetic factors may be involved in the development of these illnesses, especially the sporadic phenotypes. The details of PD pathology have made remarkable advances in the last 5 years, after the discovery of mutation of the alpha-synuclein gene in families with PD: all of the Lewy bodies (Lewy filaments) in familial and sporadic PD contain the gene product alpha-synuclein. Further studies are necessary to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the development of PD, and to determine the therapeutic targets through which it may be possible to prevent the disease. With regard to the pathology of ALS, it is of great importance that in this disease, characteristic neuronal cytoplasmic inclusions (i.e., Bunina bodies and ubiquitinated inclusions) have been described in the lower motor neurons. At present, however, compared with the Lewy bodies in PD, much less is known about the profiles of the inclusions associated with ALS. Early identifications of the proteins that constitute these inclusions would be desirable if we are to elucidate the molecular pathology, and thus the mechanisms underlying ALS.
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PMID:[Pathology of neurodegenerative diseases: with special reference to Parkinson's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis]. 1278 72

Mutations in Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase (SOD-1) are associated with some familial cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), but it is not known how they result in cell death. We examined effects of overexpression of wild-type SOD-1 or the G37R or G85R mutations on the accumulation of ubiquitinated and nitrated proteins, and on loss of cell viability induced by the proteasome inhibitor, lactacystin. Wild-type SOD-1 had no effect on proteasomal activity, but the mutants decreased it somewhat. Treatment with lactacystin (1 micro m) caused only limited cell viability loss, even though it induced a marked inhibition of proteasomal activities. However, viability loss due to apoptosis was substantial in response to lactacystin when cells were overexpressing a mutant SOD-1. The frequency of cells showing immunoreactivity against ubiquitinated- or nitrated-proteins was enhanced when wild-type and mutant SOD-1 s were overexpressed. Ubiquitinated or nitrated alpha-tubulin, SOD-1, alpha-synuclein and 68K neurofilaments were observed in the aggregates. Similar aggregates were observed in cells overexpressing mutant parkin (Del3-5, T240R and Q311'X). The nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, l-NAME, decreased viability loss and aggregation, suggesting that nitration of proteins may play an important role in aggregation and in the cell death accompanying it.
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PMID:Proteasomal inhibition causes the formation of protein aggregates containing a wide range of proteins, including nitrated proteins. 1287 77

In many neurodegenerative diseases, the cytopathological hallmark is the presence of ubiquitylated inclusions consisting of insoluble protein aggregates. Lewy bodies in Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies disease, glial cell inclusions in multiple system atrophy, and hyaline inclusions in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are representative of these inclusions. The elucidation of the components of these inclusions and the mechanisms underlying inclusion formation is important in uncovering the pathogenesis of these disorders. We hypothesized that Dorfin, a perinuclearly located E3 ubiquitin ligase, participates in the formation of ubiquitylated inclusions in a wide range of neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we report that affinity-purified anti-Dorfin antibody labeled ubiquitylated inclusions of Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies disease, multiple system atrophy, and sporadic and familial ALS. A double-immunofluorescence study revealed that Dorfin shows a distribution pattern parallel to that of ubiquitin. Furthermore, by a filter trap assay, we detected that Dorfin is present in the ubiquitylated high-molecular weight structures derived from these diseases. These results suggest that Dorfin plays a crucial role in the formation of ubiquitylated inclusions of alpha-synucleinopathy and ALS. However, because we failed to show the direct binding of alpha-synuclein with Dorfin, future investigations into the binding partner(s) of Dorfin will be needed to deepen our understanding of the pathophysiology of alpha-synucleinopathy and ALS.
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PMID:Dorfin localizes to the ubiquitylated inclusions in Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, multiple system atrophy, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. 1287 80

Alpha-synuclein (ASN) has been implicated in neurodegenerative disorders characterized by Lewy body inclusions such as Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. Lewy body-like inclusions have also been observed in spinal neurons of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and reports suggest possible ASN abnormalities in ALS patients. We assessed ASN immunoreactivity in spinal and brain tissues of subjects who had died of progressive motor neuron disorders (MND). Clinical records of subjects with MND and a comparison group were reviewed to determine the diagnosis according to El-Escariol Criteria of ALS. Cervical, thoracic and lumbar cord sections were stained with an antibody to ASN. A blinded, semiquantitative review of sections from both groups included examination for evidence of spheroids, neuronal staining, cytoplasmic inclusions, anterior horn granules, white and gray matter glial staining, corticospinal tract axonal fiber and myelin changes. MND cases, including ALS and progressive muscular atrophy, displayed significantly increased ASN staining of spheroids ( P< or =0.001), and glial staining in gray and white matter ( P< or =0.05). Significant abnormal staining of corticospinal axon tract fibers and myelin was also observed ( P< or =0.05 and 0.01). Detection of possible ASN-positive neuronal inclusions did not differ between groups. Significant ASN abnormalities were observed in MND. These findings suggest a possible role for ASN in MND; however, the precise nature of this association is unclear.
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PMID:Alpha-synuclein in motor neuron disease: an immunohistologic study. 1464 76

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