title: Murine cathepsin F deficiency causes neuronal lipofuscinosis and late-onset neurological disease.
abstract: Cathepsin F (cat F) is a widely expressed lysosomal cysteine protease whose in vivo role is unknown. To address this issue, mice deficient in cat F were generated via homologous recombination. Although cat F-/- mice appeared healthy and reproduced normally, they developed progressive hind leg weakness and decline in motor coordination at 12 to 16 months of age, followed by significant weight loss and death within 6 months. cat F was found to be expressed throughout the central nervous system (CNS). cat F-/- neurons accumulated eosinophilic granules that had features typical of lysosomal lipofuscin by electron microscopy. Large amounts of autofluorescent lipofuscin, characteristic of the neurodegenerative disease neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL), accumulated throughout the CNS but not in visceral organs, beginning as early as 6 weeks of age. Pronounced gliosis, an indicator of neuronal stress and neurodegeneration, was also apparent in older cat F-/- mice. cat F is the only cysteine cathepsin whose inactivation alone causes a lysosomal storage defect and progressive neurological features in mice. The late onset suggests that this gene may be a candidate for adult-onset NCL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, and The Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, Box 0111, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
authors.forename: Chi-Hui
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Je-Wook
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Michael G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Galvez
authors.forename: Liliane
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Robillard
authors.forename: Sara E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Mole
authors.forename: Harold A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Chapman
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D017668:Age of Onset; D000818:Animals; D056646:Cathepsin F; D002403:Cathepsins / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008062:Lipofuscin / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008817:Mice, Mutant Strains; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D009468:Neuromuscular Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D009472:Neuronal Ceroid-Lipofuscinoses / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D015431:Weight Loss
chemical_list: D008062:Lipofuscin; D002403:Cathepsins; D056646:Cathepsin F; C534092:Ctsf protein, mouse