Journal
BRAIN PATHOLOGY
Volume 30, Issue 2, Pages 272-282Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/bpa.12774
Keywords
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; purinergic receptors; skeletal muscle
Categories
Funding
- (TRANS-ALS) - Regione Lombardia [2015-0023]
- Italian Ministry for Education, University and Research [NanoMAX B81J13000310005]
- Italian Ministry of Health [GR-2013-02355413]
- AriSLA Grant HyperALS
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Muscle weakness plays an important role in neuromuscular disorders comprising amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). However, it is not established whether muscle denervation originates from the motor neurons, the muscles or more likely both. Previous studies have shown that the expression of the SOD1G93A mutation in skeletal muscles causes denervation of the neuromuscular junctions, inability to regenerate and consequent atrophy, all clear symptoms of ALS. In this work, we used SOD1G93A mice, a model that best mimics some pathological features of both familial and sporadic ALS, and we investigated some biological effects induced by the activation of the P2X7 receptor in the skeletal muscles. The P2X7, belonging to the ionotropic family of purinergic receptors for extracellular ATP, is abundantly expressed in the healthy skeletal muscles, where it controls cell duplication, differentiation, regeneration or death. In particular, we evaluated whether an in vivo treatment in SOD1G93A mice with the P2X7 specific agonist 2 '(3 ')-O-(4-Benzoylbenzoyl) adenosine5 '-triphosphate (BzATP) just before the onset of a pathological neuromuscular phenotype could exert beneficial effects in the skeletal muscles. Our findings indicate that stimulation of P2X7 improves the innervation and metabolism of myofibers, moreover elicits the proliferation/differentiation of satellite cells, thus preventing the denervation atrophy of skeletal muscles in SOD1G93A mice. Overall, this study suggests that a P2X7-targeted and site-specific modulation might be a strategy to interfere with the complex multifactorial and multisystem nature of ALS.
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