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Abnormal motoneuron migration, differentiation, and axon outgrowth in spinal muscular atrophy

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Abstract

The role of heterotopic (migratory) motoneurons (HMN) in the pathogenesis of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is still controversial. We examined the occurrence and amount of HMN in spinal cord tissue from eight children with SMA (six with SMA-I and two with SMA-II). All affected subjects were carrying a homozygous deletion of exon 7 in the SMN1 gene. Unlike controls, virtually free from HMN, all SMA subjects showed a significant number of HMN at all levels of the spinal cord. Heterotopic neurons were hyperchromatic, located mostly in the ventral white matter and had no axon or dendrites. More than half of the HMN were very undifferentiated, as judged from their lack of immunoreactivity for NeuN and MAP2 proteins. Small numbers of more differentiated heterotopic neurons were also found in the dorsal and lateral white matter region. As confirmed by ultrastructural analysis, in situ end labeling (ISEL) and CD68 immunoreactivity, HMN in the ventral outflow were found to have no synapses, to activate microglial cells, and to eventually die by necrosis. An unbiased quantitative analysis showed a significant negative correlation between age of SMA subjects (a reflection of the clinical severity) and the number of HMN. Subjects who died at older ages had increased number of GFAP-positive astrocytes. Complementing our previous report on motoneuron apoptosis within the ventral horns in SMA, we now propose that abnormal migration, differentiation, and lack of axonal outgrowth may induce motoneuron apoptosis predominantly during early stages, whereas a slower necrosis-like cell death of displaced motoneurons which “escaped” apoptosis characterizes later stages of SMA.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of Republic of Croatia (108-1081870-1884 to BK and 108-1081870-1942 to GS). We thank Z. Cmuk, D. Budinscak, B. Popovic (Department of Neuroscience, Croatian Institute for Brain Research), D. Poljan (Department of Pathology, Medical School Zagreb), and I. Jusinsky (Clinical Research Center – Electron Microscopy Unit, Huddinge University Hospital, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm) for excellent technical help.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuroscience, School of Medicine, Croatian Institute for Brain Research, Medical School Zagreb, Zagreb University, Salata 12, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Goran Simic, Mihovil Mladinov, Natasa Jovanov Milosevic, Alen Pajtak & Bozo Kruslin

  2. University Hospital Center Zagreb, Kispaticeva 12, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Durdica Seso Simic, Nina Barisic & Jadranka Sertic

  3. Karolinska Institute, NOVUM B84, Huddinge, 14 186, Stockholm, Sweden

    Atiqul Islam

  4. Centre for Neuroscience, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Kruislaan 320, 1098 SM, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Paul J. Lucassen

  5. Department of Neuroscience, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, One Gustave L. Lewy Place, Box 1065, New York, NY, 10029, USA

    Patrick R. Hof

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  1. Goran Simic
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Correspondence to Goran Simic.

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Simic, G., Mladinov, M., Seso Simic, D. et al. Abnormal motoneuron migration, differentiation, and axon outgrowth in spinal muscular atrophy. Acta Neuropathol 115, 313–326 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00401-007-0327-1

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