title: Degeneration of neurons, synapses, and neuropil and glial activation in a murine Atm knockout model of ataxia-telangiectasia.
abstract: Neural degeneration is one of the clinical manifestations of ataxia-telangiectasia, a disorder caused by mutations in the Atm protein kinase gene. However, neural degeneration was not detected with general purpose light microscopic methods in previous studies using several different lines of mice with disrupted Atm genes. Here, we show electron microscopic evidence of degeneration of several different types of neurons in the cerebellar cortex of 2-month-old Atm knockout mice, which is accompanied by glial activation, deterioration of neuropil structure, and both pre- and postsynaptic degeneration. These findings are similar to those in patients with ataxia-telangiectasia, indicating that Atm knockout mice are a useful model to elucidate the mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration in this condition and to develop and test strategies to palliate and prevent the disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136-2115, USA. rkuljis@mednet.med.miami.edu
authors.forename: R O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Kuljis
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Aguila
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Baltimore
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001260:Ataxia Telangiectasia / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D064007:Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated Proteins; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000473:pathology; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology; D019581:Neuropil / Q000473:pathology*; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D013569:Synapses / Q000473:pathology*; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins
chemical_list: D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D011506:Proteins; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; D064007:Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated Proteins; C576325:Atm protein, mouse; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases