Rescue from excitotoxicity and axonal degeneration accompanied by age-dependent behavioral and neuroanatomical alterations in caspase-6-deficient mice

V Uribe, BKY Wong, RK Graham… - Human molecular …, 2012 - academic.oup.com
V Uribe, BKY Wong, RK Graham, CL Cusack, NH Skotte, MA Pouladi, Y Xie, K Feinberg
Human molecular genetics, 2012academic.oup.com
Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is a cellular pathway involved in normal cell turnover,
developmental tissue remodeling, embryonic development, cellular homeostasis
maintenance and chemical-induced cell death. Caspases are a family of intracellular
proteases that play a key role in apoptosis. Aberrant activation of caspases has been
implicated in human diseases. In particular, numerous findings implicate Caspase-6
(Casp6) in neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer disease (AD) and Huntington …
Abstract
Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is a cellular pathway involved in normal cell turnover, developmental tissue remodeling, embryonic development, cellular homeostasis maintenance and chemical-induced cell death. Caspases are a family of intracellular proteases that play a key role in apoptosis. Aberrant activation of caspases has been implicated in human diseases. In particular, numerous findings implicate Caspase-6 (Casp6) in neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer disease (AD) and Huntington disease (HD), highlighting the need for a deeper understanding of Casp6 biology and its role in brain development. The use of targeted caspase-deficient mice has been instrumental for studying the involvement of caspases in apoptosis. The goal of this study was to perform an in-depth neuroanatomical and behavioral characterization of constitutive Casp6-deficient (Casp6−/−) mice in order to understand the physiological function of Casp6 in brain development, structure and function. We demonstrate that Casp6−/− neurons are protected against excitotoxicity, nerve growth factor deprivation and myelin-induced axonal degeneration. Furthermore, Casp6-deficient mice show an age-dependent increase in cortical and striatal volume. In addition, these mice show a hypoactive phenotype and display learning deficits. The age-dependent behavioral and region-specific neuroanatomical changes observed in the Casp6−/− mice suggest that Casp6 deficiency has a more pronounced effect in brain regions that are involved in neurodegenerative diseases, such as the striatum in HD and the cortex in AD.
Oxford University Press