TY - JOUR
T1 - Gene expression profiles of APP and BACE1 in Tg SOD1G93A cortical cells
AU - Spadoni, Ornella
AU - Crestini, Alessio
AU - Piscopo, Paola
AU - Malvezzi-Campeggi, Lorenzo
AU - Carunchio, Irene
AU - Pieri, Massimo
AU - Zona, Cristina
AU - Confaloni, Annamaria
PY - 2009/7
Y1 - 2009/7
N2 - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease defined by motor neuron loss. Transgenic mouse model (Tg SOD1G93A) shows pathological features that closely mimic those seen in ALS patients. An hypothetic link between AD and ALS was suggested by finding an higher amount of amyloid precursor protein (APP) in the spinal cord anterior horn neurons, and of Aβ peptides in ALS patients skin. In this work, we have investigated the expression of some genes involved in Alzheimer's disease, as APP, β- and γ-secretase, in an animal model of ALS, to understand some possible common molecular mechanisms between these two pathologies. For gene expression analysis, we carried out a quantitative RT-PCR in ALS mice and in transgenic mice over-expressing human wild-type SOD1 (Tg hSOD1). We found that APP and BACE1 mRNA levels were increased 1.5-fold in cortical cells of Tg SOD1G93A mice respect to Tg hSOD1, whereas the expression of γ-secretase genes, as PSEN1, PSEN2, Nicastrin, and APH1a, showed no statistical differences between wild-type and ALS mice. Biochemical analysis carried out by immunostaining and western blotting, did not show any significant modulation of the protein expression compared to the genes, suggesting the existence of post-translational mechanisms that modify protein levels.
AB - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease defined by motor neuron loss. Transgenic mouse model (Tg SOD1G93A) shows pathological features that closely mimic those seen in ALS patients. An hypothetic link between AD and ALS was suggested by finding an higher amount of amyloid precursor protein (APP) in the spinal cord anterior horn neurons, and of Aβ peptides in ALS patients skin. In this work, we have investigated the expression of some genes involved in Alzheimer's disease, as APP, β- and γ-secretase, in an animal model of ALS, to understand some possible common molecular mechanisms between these two pathologies. For gene expression analysis, we carried out a quantitative RT-PCR in ALS mice and in transgenic mice over-expressing human wild-type SOD1 (Tg hSOD1). We found that APP and BACE1 mRNA levels were increased 1.5-fold in cortical cells of Tg SOD1G93A mice respect to Tg hSOD1, whereas the expression of γ-secretase genes, as PSEN1, PSEN2, Nicastrin, and APH1a, showed no statistical differences between wild-type and ALS mice. Biochemical analysis carried out by immunostaining and western blotting, did not show any significant modulation of the protein expression compared to the genes, suggesting the existence of post-translational mechanisms that modify protein levels.
KW - Alzheimer
KW - Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
KW - APP
KW - BACE1
KW - Tg SOD1G93A mice
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U2 - 10.1007/s10571-009-9356-8
DO - 10.1007/s10571-009-9356-8
M3 - Article
C2 - 19214738
AN - SCOPUS:67650915095
VL - 29
SP - 635
EP - 641
JO - Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology
JF - Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology
SN - 0272-4340
IS - 5
ER -