Parvalbumin is a marker of ALS-resistant motor neurons

J. L. Elliott, W. D. Snider

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

93 Scopus citations

Abstract

The selective vulnerability of limb and bulbar motor neurons is a hallmark of degenerative human motor neuron diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Currently, there are no known molecular characteristics to distinguish between motor neuron pools which are highly susceptible to degeneration in ALS and those populations which are resistant. Using in situ hybridization on adult rat tissue, we demonstrated that ALS-resist- ant motor pools robustly express mRNA for the calcium binding protein parvalbumin, while no measurable par- valbumin expression is found in ALS-sensitive motor neuron populations. In contrast, mRNA expression for each of several other calcium binding proteins such as calbin- din-D28K, calretinin and calmodulin appears similar in the various motor pools. Thus, parvalbumin represents a biochemical marker of ALS-resistant motor neurons, and may provide insight into the mechanisms of resistance of certain motor neurons to disease.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)449-452
Number of pages4
JournalNeuroReport
Volume6
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1995

Keywords

  • Calbindin
  • Calcium
  • Calmodulin
  • Calretinin
  • Neurodegenerative disease

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Neuroscience

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