Abstract
Nerve growth factor (NGF) is a protective factor of neural cells; the possible relationship between the NGF and the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) hasn’t been completely known. In this study, we observed and analyzed the expression and distribution of NGF, as well as the possible relationship between the NGF expression and distribution and the neural cell death in both SOD1 wild-type (WT) and Tg(SOD1*G93A)1Gur (TG) mice applying the fluorescence immunohistochemistry method. The results showed that the expression and distribution of NGF in the anterior horn (AH), the lateral horn (LH), and the surrounding central canal (CC) significantly increased at the supper early stage of ALS (Pre-onset stage) and the early stage (Onset stage), but the NGF expression and distribution in the AH, the LH, and the surrounding CC significantly reduced at the progression stage. The astrocyte, neuron, and oligodendrocyte produced the NGF and the neural precursor cells (NPCs) produced the NGF. The neural cell death gradually increased accompanying with the reduction of NGF expression and distribution. Our data suggested that the NGF was a protective factor of neural cells, because the neural cells in the AH, the LH, and the surrounding CC produced more NGF at the supper early and early stage of ALS; moreover, the NPCs produced the NGF. It implied that the NGF exerted the protective effect of neural cells, prevented from the neural cell death and aroused the potential of self-repair in the development of ALS.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.
Change history
04 December 2021
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10571-021-01174-4
References
Aoki M (2012) Hepatocyte growth factor therapy for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Brain Nerv 64:245–254
Aquilonius SM, Askmark H, Ebendal T, Gillberg PG (1992) No re-expression of high-affinity nerve growth factor binding sites in spinal motor neurons in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Eur Neurol 32:216–218. https://doi.org/10.1159/000116825
Bhandari R, Kuhad A, Kuhad A (2018) Edaravone: a new hope for deadly amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Drugs Today (Barc) 54:349–360. https://doi.org/10.1358/dot.2018.54.6.2828189
Blasco H, Mavel S, Corcia P, Gordon PH (2014) The glutamate hypothesis in ALS: pathophysiology and drug development. Curr Med Chem 21:3551–3575. https://doi.org/10.2174/0929867321666140916120118
Canu N et al (2017) The intersection of NGF/TrkA signaling and amyloid precursor protein processing in Alzheimer’s disease neuropathology. Int J Mol Sci. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms18061319
Chen LW, Yung KK, Chan YS, Shum DK, Bolam JP (2008) The proNGF-p75NTR-sortilin signalling complex as new target for the therapeutic treatment of Parkinson’s disease. CNS Neurol Disord Drug Targets 7:512–523. https://doi.org/10.2174/187152708787122923
Chia R, Chiò A, Traynor BJ (2018) Novel genes associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: diagnostic and clinical implications. Lancet Neurol 17:94–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(17)30401-5
Chico L et al (2017) Cross-talk between pathogenic mechanisms in neurodegeneration: the role of oxidative stress in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Arch Ital Biol 155:131–141. https://doi.org/10.12871/00039829201744
Chung CG, Lee H, Lee SB (2018) Mechanisms of protein toxicity in neurodegenerative diseases. Cell Mol Life Sci 75:3159–3180. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-018-2854-4
Cunha MP et al (2016) Creatine affords protection against glutamate-induced nitrosative and oxidative stress. Neurochem Int 95:4–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuint.2016.01.002
Dash RP, Babu RJ, Srinivas NR (2018) Two decades-long journey from riluzole to edaravone: revisiting the clinical pharmacokinetics of the only two amyotrophic lateral sclerosis therapeutics. Clin Pharmacokinet 57:1385–1398. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40262-018-0655-4
Davies AM (2000) Neurotrophins: more to NGF than just survival. Curr Biol 10:R374–R376. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0960-9822(00)00480-2
Doble A (1996) The pharmacology and mechanism of action of riluzole. Neurology 47:S233–S241. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.47.6_suppl_4.233s
Fahnestock M, Shekari A (2019) ProNGF and neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease. Front Neurosci 13:129. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2019.00129
Francardo V et al (2011) Impact of the lesion procedure on the profiles of motor impairment and molecular responsiveness to L-DOPA in the 6-hydroxydopamine mouse model of Parkinson’s disease. Neurobiol Dis 42:327–340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbd.2011.01.024
Garbuzova-Davis S, Ehrhart J, Sanberg PR (2017) Cord blood as a potential therapeutic for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Expert Opin Biol Ther 17:837–851. https://doi.org/10.1080/14712598.2017.1323862
Golpich M et al (2017) Mitochondrial dysfunction and biogenesis in neurodegenerative diseases: pathogenesis and treatment. CNS Neurosci Ther 23:5–22. https://doi.org/10.1111/cns.12655
Gurney ME et al (1994) Motor neuron degeneration in mice that express a human Cu, Zn superoxide dismutase mutation. Science 264:1772–1775. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.8209258
Harmer NJ, Chirgadze D, Hyun Kim K, Pellegrini L, Blundell TL (2003) The structural biology of growth factor receptor activation. Biophys Chem 100:545–553. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0301-4622(02)00305-8
Henriques A, Pitzer C, Schneider A (2010) Characterization of a novel SOD-1(G93A) transgenic mouse line with very decelerated disease development. PLoS ONE 5:e15445. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0015445
Huang EJ, Reichardt LF (2003) Trk receptors: roles in neuronal signal transduction. Annu Rev Biochem 72:609–642. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.biochem.72.121801.161629
Jaiswal MK (2019) Riluzole and edaravone: a tale of two amyotrophic lateral sclerosis drugs. Med Res Rev 39:733–748. https://doi.org/10.1002/med.21528
Kaplan DR, Stephens RM (1994) Neurotrophin signal transduction by the Trk receptor. J Neurobiol 25:1404–1417. https://doi.org/10.1002/neu.480251108
Kaur SJ, McKeown SR, Rashid S (2016) Mutant SOD1 mediated pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Gene 577:109–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gene.2015.11.049
King AE, Woodhouse A, Kirkcaldie MT, Vickers JC (2016) Excitotoxicity in ALS: overstimulation, or overreaction? Exp Neurol 275:162–171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.expneurol.2015.09.019
Latina V, Caioli S, Zona C, Ciotti MT, Amadoro G, Calissano P (2017) Impaired NGF/TrkA signaling causes early AD-linked presynaptic dysfunction in cholinergic primary neurons. Front Cell Neurosci 11:68. https://doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2017.00068.eCollection2017
Lee R, Kermani P, Teng KK, Hempstead BL (2001) Regulation of cell survival by secreted proneurotrophins. Science 294:1945–1948. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1065057
Lehigh KM, West KM, Ginty DD (2017) Retrogradely transported TrkA endosomes signal locally within dendrites to maintain sympathetic neuron synapses. Cell Rep 19:86–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2017.03.028
Levi-Montalcini R (2004) The nerve growth factor and the neuroscience chess board. Prog Brain Res 146:525–527
Liu J, Wang LN (2018) The efficacy and safety of riluzole for neurodegenerative movement disorders: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Drug Deliv 25:43–48. https://doi.org/10.1080/10717544.2017.1413446
Ludolph AC, Brettschneider J, Weishaupt JH (2012) Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Curr Opin Neurol 25:530–535. https://doi.org/10.1097/WCO.0b013e328356d328
Mavlyutov TA, Baker EM, Losenegger TM, Kim JR, Torres B, Epstein ML, Ruoho AE (2017) The sigma-1 receptor-A therapeutic target for the treatment of ALS? Adv Exp Med Biol 964:255–265. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50174-1_17
McManus MJ, Franklin JL (2018) Dissociation of JNK activation from elevated levels of reactive oxygen species, cytochrome c release, and cell death in NGF-deprived sympathetic neurons. Mol Neurobiol 55:382–389. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12035-016-0332-2
Menon P, Kiernan MC, Vucic S (2014) Biomarkers and future targets for development in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Curr Med Chem 21:3535–3550. https://doi.org/10.2174/0929867321666140601161148
Middleton G, Davies AM (2001) Populations of NGF-dependent neurones differ in their requirement for BAX to undergo apoptosis in the absence of NGF/TrkA signalling in vivo. Development 128:4715–4728
Minnone G, De Benedetti F, Bracci-Laudiero L (2017) NGF and its receptors in the regulation of inflammatory response. Int J Mol Sci. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms18051028
Mis MSC, Brajkovic S, Tafuri F, Bresolin N, Comi GP, Corti S (2017) Development of therapeutics for C9ORF72 ALS/FTD-related disorders. Mol Neurobiol 54:4466–4476. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12035-016-9993-0
Mitsumoto H, Brooks BR, Silani V (2014) Clinical trials in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: why so many negative trials and how can trials be improved? Lancet Neurol 13:1127–1138. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(14)70129-2
Morgan S, Orrell RW (2016) Pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Br Med Bull 119:87–98. https://doi.org/10.1093/bmb/ldw026
Oliveira SL, Trujillo CA, Negraes PD, Ulrich H (2015) Effects of ATP and NGF on proliferation and migration of neural precursor cells. Neurochem Res 40:1849–1857. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-015-1674-2
Oskarsson B, Gendron TF, Staff NP (2018) Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: an update for 2018. Mayo Clin Proc 93:1617–1628. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2018.04.007
Pandya RS et al (2012) Neuroprotection for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: role of stem cells, growth factors, and gene therapy. Cent Nerv Syst Agents Med Chem 12:15–27. https://doi.org/10.2174/187152412800229152
Patapoutian A, Reichardt LF (2001) Trk receptors: mediators of neurotrophin action. Curr Opin Neurobiol 11:272–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0959-4388(00)00208-7
Pehar M et al (2004) Astrocytic production of nerve growth factor in motor neuron apoptosis: implications for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. J Neurochem 89:464–473. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-4159.2004.02357.x
Pepeu G, Grazia Giovannini M (2017) The fate of the brain cholinergic neurons in neurodegenerative diseases. Brain Res 1670:173–184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2017.06.023
Petri S, Körner S, Kiaei M (2012) Nrf2/ARE signaling pathway: key mediator in oxidative stress and potential therapeutic target in ALS. Neurol Res Int 2012:878030. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/878030
Petrov D, Mansfield C, Moussy A, Hermine O (2017) ALS clinical trials review: 20 years of failure. Are we any closer to registering a new treatment? Front Aging Neurosci 9:68. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2017.00068
Rao SD, Yin HZ, Weiss JH (2003) Disruption of glial glutamate transport by reactive oxygen species produced in motor neurons. J Neurosci 23:2627–2633
Rosen DR et al (1993) Mutations in Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase gene are associated with familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Nature 362:59–62. https://doi.org/10.1038/362059a0
Rossi S, Cozzolino M, Carrì MT (2016) Old versus new mechanisms in the pathogenesis of ALS. Brain Pathol 26:276–286. https://doi.org/10.1111/bpa.12355
Saberi S, Stauffer JE, Schulte DJ, Ravits J (2015) Neuropathology of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and its variants. Neurol Clin 33:855–876. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ncl.2015.07.012
Salameh JS, Brown RH Jr, Berry JD (2015) Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: review. Semin Neurol 35:469–476. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0035-1558984
Sanes DH, Thomas AR, Harris WA (2011) Naturally-occurring neuron death. Development of the nervous system, 3rd edn. Academic Press, Boston, pp 171–208
Shi P, Gal J, Kwinter DM, Liu X, Zhu H (2010) Mitochondrial dysfunction in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Biochim Biophys Acta 1802:45–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbadis.2009.08.012
Smith EF, Shaw PJ, De Vos KJ (2019) The role of mitochondria in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Neurosci Lett 710:132933. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2017.06.052
Tefera TW, Borges K (2017) Metabolic dysfunctions in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis pathogenesis and potential metabolic treatments. Front Neurosci 10:611. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2016.00611
White JA, Banerjee R, Gunawardena S (2016) Axonal transport and neurodegeneration: how marine drugs can be used for the development of therapeutics. Mar Drugs. https://doi.org/10.3390/md14050102
Wong AW, Yeung KPJ, Payne SC, Keast JR, Osborne PB (2015) Neurite outgrowth in normal and injured primary sensory neurons reveals different regulation by nerve growth factor (NGF) and artemin. Mol Cell Neurosci 65:125–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mcn.2015.03.004
Xia B, Lv Y (2017) Dual-delivery of VEGF and NGF by emulsion electrospun nanofibrous scaffold for peripheral nerve regeneration. Brain Res 1670:173–184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msec.2017.08.030
Yoshino H (2019) Edaravone for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Expert Rev Neurother 27:1–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/14737175.2019.1581610
Zarate CA, Manji HK (2008) Riluzole in psychiatry: a systematic review of the literature. Expert Opin Drug Metab Toxicol 4:1223–1234. https://doi.org/10.1517/17425255.4.9.1223
Zarei S et al (2015) A comprehensive review of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Surg Neurol Int 6:171. https://doi.org/10.4103/2152-7806.169561
Zhong SJ, Gong YH, Lin YC (2017) Combined intranasal nerve growth factor and ventricle neural stem cell grafts prolong survival and improve disease outcome in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis transgenic mice. Neurosci Lett 656:1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2017.07.005
Zhou Y et al (2015) An astrocyte regenerative response from vimentin-containing cells in the spinal cord of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis’s disease-like transgenic (G93A SOD1) mice. Neurodegener Dis 15:1–12. https://doi.org/10.1159/000369466
Zuo E et al (2019) 2,5-Hexanedione mediates neuronal apoptosis through suppression of NGF via PI3K/Akt signaling in the rat sciatic nerve. Biosci Rep. https://doi.org/10.1042/BSR20181122
Acknowledgements
The work was supported financially by Grants from National Natural Science Foundation of China (30560042, 81160161 and 81360198), Education Department of Jiangxi Province (GJJ13198, GJJ170021), Jiangxi Provincial Department of Science and Technology ([2014]-47, 20142BBG70062, 20171BAB215022), Health and Family Planning Commission of Jiangxi province (20181019), and Jiangxi Provincial Department of Science and Technology Gan Po Elite 555 (Jiangxi Finance Elite Education Refers to [2015] 108).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
ZX, JJ, SX, and RX designed the study. ZX, JJ, SX, ZX, PH, and SJ performed the experiments. RX provided expertise and material. ZX, JJ, SX, and RX wrote the manuscript. All authors reviewed the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Ethical Approval
All procedures performed in studies involving laboratory animal participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Research Involving Human and/or Animal Participants
This study included the use of the laboratory animals. No other biological samples derived from patients were used.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
The original online version of this article was revised: Zunchun Xie is affiliated only with Department of Neurology, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, Jiangxi, China.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Xu, Z., Jiang, J., Xu, S. et al. Nerve Growth Factor is a Potential Treated Target in Tg(SOD1*G93A)1Gur Mice. Cell Mol Neurobiol 42, 1035–1046 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10571-020-00993-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10571-020-00993-1