Abstract
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is characterized by the progressive degeneration of the motor neurons that innervate muscle, resulting in gradual paralysis and culminating in the inability to breathe or swallow. This neuronal degeneration occurs in a spatiotemporal manner from a point of onset in the central nervous system (CNS), suggesting that there is a molecule that spreads from cell-to-cell. There is strong evidence that the onset and progression of ALS pathology is a consequence of protein misfolding and aggregation. In line with this, a hallmark pathology of ALS is protein deposition and inclusion formation within motor neurons and surrounding glia of the proteins TAR DNA-binding protein 43, superoxide dismutase-1, or fused in sarcoma. Collectively, the observed protein aggregation, in conjunction with the spatiotemporal spread of symptoms, strongly suggests a prion-like propagation of protein aggregation occurs in ALS. In this review, we discuss the role of protein aggregation in ALS concerning protein homeostasis (proteostasis) mechanisms and prion-like propagation. Furthermore, we examine the experimental models used to investigate these processes, including in vitro assays, cultured cells, invertebrate models, and murine models. Finally, we evaluate the therapeutics that may best prevent the onset or spread of pathology in ALS and discuss what lies on the horizon for treating this currently incurable disease.
Highlights
Proteostasis and Prion-Like PropagationA major pathological component of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is the prion-like propagation of misfolded and aggregated proteins in the central nervous system (CNS; for recent reviews in each case see—Hock and Polymenidou, 2016; Watts and Prusiner, 2018; McAlary et al, 2019b; Vargas et al, 2019)
In a C. elegans model expressing wild type and S57∆ mutant human FUS (hFUS) in GABAergic motor neurons, hFUS transgenic lines showed adult-onset, age-dependent locomotion deficits (Vaccaro et al, 2012b). These age-dependent behavioral effects correlate with motor neuron degeneration, which is more severe in hFUSS57∆ transgenic animals compared with hFUSWT (Vaccaro et al, 2012b)
While this study provides initial in vivo evidence for the prion-like characteristics of transactive response DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43), further research is required to identify the specific regions of TDP-43 that are important for seeding
Summary
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is characterized by the progressive degeneration of the motor neurons that innervate muscle, resulting in gradual paralysis and culminating in the inability to breathe or swallow. This neuronal degeneration occurs in a spatiotemporal manner from a point of onset in the central nervous system (CNS), suggesting that there is a molecule that spreads from cell-to-cell. The observed protein aggregation, in conjunction with the spatiotemporal spread of symptoms, strongly suggests a prion-like propagation of protein aggregation occurs in ALS. We discuss the role of protein aggregation in ALS concerning protein homeostasis (proteostasis) mechanisms and prion-like propagation.
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