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Microglia Influence Neurofilament Deposition in ALS iPSC-Derived Motor Neurons. Genes (Basel) 2022 Jan 27;13(2)

Date

02/26/2022

Pubmed ID

35205286

Pubmed Central ID

PMC8871895

DOI

10.3390/genes13020241

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85124092767 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   6 Citations

Abstract

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in which upper and lower motor neuron loss is the primary phenotype, leading to muscle weakness and wasting, respiratory failure, and death. Although a portion of ALS cases are linked to one of over 50 unique genes, the vast majority of cases are sporadic in nature. However, the mechanisms underlying the motor neuron loss in either familial or sporadic ALS are not entirely clear. Here, we used induced pluripotent stem cells derived from a set of identical twin brothers discordant for ALS to assess the role of astrocytes and microglia on the expression and accumulation of neurofilament proteins in motor neurons. We found that motor neurons derived from the affected twin which exhibited increased transcript levels of all three neurofilament isoforms and increased expression of phosphorylated neurofilament puncta. We further found that treatment of the motor neurons with astrocyte-conditioned medium and microglial-conditioned medium significantly impacted neurofilament deposition. Together, these data suggest that glial-secreted factors can alter neurofilament pathology in ALS iPSC-derived motor neurons.

Author List

Allison RL, Adelman JW, Abrudan J, Urrutia RA, Zimmermann MT, Mathison AJ, Ebert AD

Authors

Allison D. Ebert PhD Associate Professor in the Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Angela Mathison PhD Assistant Professor in the Surgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Raul A. Urrutia MD Center Director, Professor in the Surgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Michael T. Zimmermann PhD Director, Assistant Professor in the Clinical and Translational Science Institute department at Medical College of Wisconsin




MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Culture Media, Conditioned
Humans
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Intermediate Filaments
Male
Microglia
Motor Neurons
Neurodegenerative Diseases