Transgenic rescue of ataxia mice with neuronal-specific expression of ubiquitin-specific protease 14.

The ataxia mutation (axJ) is a recessive neurological mutation that results in reduced growth, ataxia, and hindlimb muscle wasting in mice. The axJ gene encodes ubiquitin-specific protease 14 (Usp14), a deubiquitinating enzyme (DUB) that associates with the proteasome via its ubiquitin-like (Ubl) domain and is involved in processing ubiquitin chains. Analysis of Usp14 gene products demonstrated that Usp14 undergoes alternative pre-mRNA splicing to produce a full-length form of Usp14 that is capable of binding proteasomes and a form that contains a deletion in the Ubl domain. The full-length form of Usp14 is the only form that appears to be reduced in the axJ mice. Transgenic rescue of the axJ mice with neuronal-specific expression of Usp14 demonstrated that the full-length form of Usp14 was sufficient to restore viability and motor system function to the axJ mice. Biochemical analysis showed that the ubiquitin hydrolyase activity of this form of Usp14 is dependent on the presence of proteasomes, and neuronal expression of full-length Usp14 was able to restore the levels of monomeric ubiquitin in the brains of axJ mice. However, the axJ-rescued mice still displayed the Purkinje cell axonal swellings that are seen in the axJ mice, indicating that this cerebellar alteration is not the primary cause of the axJ movement disorders. These results show that the motor defects observed in the axJ mice are attributable to a neuropathic disease rather than to a muscular disorder and suggest that changes in proteasomal function may contribute to neurological dysfunction in the axJ mice.

Loss of basal forebrain P75(NTR) immunoreactivity in subjects with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.

The long-held belief that degeneration of the cholinergic basal forebrain was central to Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis and occurred early in the disease process has been questioned recently. In this regard, changes in some cholinergic basal forebrain (CBF) markers (e.g. the high affinity trkA receptor) but not others (e.g., cortical choline acetyltransferase [ChAT] activity, the number of ChAT and vesicular acetylcholine transporter-immunoreactive neurons) suggest specific phenotypic changes, but not frank neuronal degeneration, early in the disease process. The present study examined the expression of the low affinity p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75(NTR)), an excellent marker of CBF neurons, in postmortem tissue derived from clinically well-characterized individuals who have been classified as having no cognitive impairment (NCI), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and mild AD. Relative to NCI individuals, a significant and similar reduction in the number of nucleus basalis p75(NTR)-immunoreactive neurons was seen in individuals with MCI (38%) and mild AD (43%). The number of p75(NTR)-immunoreactive nucleus basalis neurons was significantly correlated with performance on the Mini-Mental State Exam, a Global Cognitive Test score, as well as some individual tests of working memory and attention. These data, together with previous reports, support the concept that phenotypic changes, but not frank neuronal degeneration, occur early in cognitive decline. Although there was no difference in p75(NTR) CBF cell reduction between MCI and AD, it remains to be determined whether these findings lend support to the hypothesis that MCI is a prodromal stage of AD.