First Author | Nagano S | Year | 2015 |
Journal | Hum Mol Genet | Volume | 24 |
Issue | 12 | Pages | 3427-39 |
PubMed ID | 25762155 | Mgi Jnum | J:221350 |
Mgi Id | MGI:5638961 | Doi | 10.1093/hmg/ddv093 |
Citation | Nagano S, et al. (2015) A cysteine residue affects the conformational state and neuronal toxicity of mutant SOD1 in mice: relevance to the pathogenesis of ALS. Hum Mol Genet 24(12):3427-39 |
abstractText | We previously showed by in vitro experiments that the cysteine residue (Cys111) near the dimer interface is critical for monomerization and resultant aggregate formation of mutant Cu, Zn-superoxide dismutase (SOD1) protein, which is toxic to motor neurons in familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). To verify the importance of Cys111 in the mutant SOD1-associated ALS pathogenesis in vivo, we analyzed the disease phenotype of SOD1 transgenic mice harboring H46R mutation alone (H46R mice) or H46R/C111S double mutations (H46R/C111S mice). Behavioral, histological and biochemical analyses of the spinal cord showed that the onset and progression of the disease phenotype were delayed in H46R/C111S mice compared with H46R mice. We found that peroxidized Cys111 of H46R SOD1 plays a role in promoting formation of high molecular weight insoluble SOD1 species that is correlated with the progression of the motor neuron disease phenotype. These results support that Cys111 is a critical residue for the neuronal toxicity of mutant SOD1 in vivo, and the blockage of peroxidation of this residue in mutant SOD1 may constitute a future target for developing ALS treatment. |