Journal
NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 162, Issue 4, Pages 959-971Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2009.05.049
Keywords
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; microglia; neuroinflammation; nitric oxide; proinflammatory cytokines
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Funding
- Spanish Ministry of Health through the Instituto de Salud, Carlos III [PI041307, PI051445, PI060680]
- Generalitat de Catalunya [2005SGR00628]
- Fondo de Investigacion Sanitaria
- Govern Balear
- Conselleria d'Economia
- Hisenda i Innovacio
- Universitat de Lleida
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The accumulation of reactive microglia in the degenerating areas of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) tissue is a key cellular event creating a chronic inflammatory environment that results in motoneuron death. We have developed a new culture system that consists in rat spinal cord embryonic explants in which motoneurons migrate outside the explant, growing as a monolayer in the presence of glial cells. The proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) have been proposed to be involved in ALS-linked microglial activation. In our explants, the combined exposure to these cytokines resulted in an increased expression of the pro-oxidative enzymes inducible nitric oxide synthase (MOS), the catalytic subunit of the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase, gp91(phox) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), as compared to each cytokine alone. This effect was related to their cooperation in the activation of the transcription factor nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappa B). TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma also cooperated to promote protein oxidation and nitration, thus increasing the percentage of motoneurons immunoreactive for nitrotyrosine. Apoptotic motoneuron death, measured through annexin V-Cy3 and active caspase-3 immunoreactivities, was also found cooperatively induced by TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma. Interestingly, these cytokines did not affect the viability of purified spinal cord motoneurons in the absence of glial cells. It is proposed that the proinflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma have cooperative/complementary roles in inflammation-induced motoneuron death. (C) 2009 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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