title: Phosphorylated Smad2/3 immunoreactivity in sporadic and familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and its mouse model.
abstract: Phosphorylated Smad2/3 (pSmad2/3), the central mediators of transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta signaling, were recently identified in tau-positive inclusions in certain neurodegenerative disorders. To clarify whether the localization of pSmad2/3 is altered in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), we immunohistochemically examined spinal cords from sporadic ALS (SALS), from familial ALS (FALS) patients with the A4V mutation in their Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) gene, and from G93A mutant SOD1 transgenic (mSOD1 Tg) mice. In control spinal cords, pSmad2/3 immunoreactivity was observed exclusively in neuronal and glial nuclei. In SALS and FALS patients the nuclei showed increased immunoreactivity for pSmad2/3. Noticeably, round hyaline inclusions (RHIs) and skein-like inclusions of SALS patients were immunoreactive for pSmad2/3. Double immunofluorescence staining for pSmad2/3 and transactive response-DNA-binding protein (TDP)-43 revealed co-localization of these proteins within RHIs. In contrast, Bunina bodies in SALS and Lewy body-like hyaline inclusions (LBHIs) in FALS were devoid of labeling for pSmad2/3. Similarly, in the mSOD1 Tg mice pSmad2/3 immunoreactivity was increased in the nuclei, while LBHIs were not labeled. These findings suggest increased TGF-beta-Smad signaling in SALS, FALS, and mSOD1 Tg mice, as well as impaired TGF-beta signal transduction in RHI-bearing neurons of SALS patients, presumably at the step of pSmad2/3 translocation into the nucleus. The pathomechanisms, including the process of inclusion development, appears to be different between SALS and mSOD1-related FALS or Tg mice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Kansai Medical University, 10-15, Fumizono-cho, Moriguchi, Osaka 570-8507, Japan.
authors.forename: Masataka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Hidefumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Reika
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wate
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakano
authors.forename: Asao
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hirano
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kusaka
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D002479:Inclusion Bodies / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D008875:Middle Aged; D010766:Phosphorylation; D021381:Protein Transport / Q000502:physiology; D051899:Smad2 Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D051900:Smad3 Protein / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: C497782:SMAD2 protein, human; C497790:SMAD3 protein, human; D051899:Smad2 Protein; D051900:Smad3 Protein