Alsin and SOD1G93A proteins regulate endosomal reactive oxygen species production by glial cells and proinflammatory pathways responsible for neurotoxicity

Abstract

Recent studies have implicated enhanced Nox2-mediated reactive oxygen species (ROS) by microglia in the pathogenesis of motor neuron death observed in familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In this context, ALS mutant forms of SOD1 enhance Rac1 activation, leading to increased Nox2-dependent microglial ROS production and neuron cell death in mice. It remains unclear if other genetic mutations that cause ALS also function through similar Nox-dependent pathways to enhance ROS-mediate motor neuron death. In the present study, we sought to understand whether alsin, which is mutated in an inherited juvenile form of ALS, functionally converges on Rac1- dependent pathways acted upon by SOD1G93A to regulate Noxdependent ROS production. Our studies demonstrate that glial cell expression of SOD1G93A or wild type alsin induces ROS production, Rac1 activation, secretion of TNFα, and activation of NFκB, leading to decreased motor neuron survival in co-culture. Interestingly, coexpression of alsin, or shRNA against Nox2, with SOD1G93A in glial cells attenuated these proinflammatory indicators and protected motor neurons in co-culture, although shRNAs against Nox1 and Nox4 had little effect. SOD1G93A expression dramatically enhanced TNFα-mediated endosomal ROS in glial cells in a Rac1-dependent manner and alsin overexpression inhibited SOD1G93A-induced endosomal ROS and Rac1 activation. SOD1G93A expression enhanced recruitment of alsin to the endomembrane compartment in glial cells, suggesting that these two proteins act to modulate Nox2- dependent endosomal ROS and proinflammatory signals that modulate NFκB. These studies suggest that glial proinflammatory signals regulated by endosomal ROS are influenced by two gene products known to cause ALS. © 2011 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.