Disease relevance of Anterior Horn Cells

• This report concerns retrospective immunohistochemical and immunoelectron microscopic studies on superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD1) in intracytoplasmic hyaline inclusions (IHIs) of the anterior horn cells of three patients with familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) with posterior column involvement [1].
• We studied 10 cases with ALS, 10 normal controls, and 10 cases with anterior horn cell disease, including spinal muscular atrophy and acute and remote poliomyelitis [2].
• Detection of viral-specific nucleic acid and intracellular virions in ventral horn neurons of lactate dehydrogenase-elevating virus infected C58 mice [3].
• Stiff-man syndrome is due to hyperexcitability of anterior horn cells, possibly related to interference with the synthesis or action of gamma-aminobutyric acid [4].
• Immunosuppression, occurring naturally with aging, or experimentally after cyclophosphamide treatment or irradiation, is required for the development in C58 mice infected with lactate dehydrogenase-elevating virus (LDV) of a severe polioencephalomyelitis that is caused by viral destruction of anterior horn neurons [5].

High impact information on Anterior Horn Cells

• There was a two- to four-fold increase in GAP-43 mRNA in ALS that localized to the anterior horn cells [6].
• Electromyography, nerve conduction velocities, muscle biopsy, and serum creatine kinase were consistent with anterior horn cell disease [7].
• Pathology studies have shown mild to moderate loss of anterior horn cells and, in terms of spinal pathology, Machado-Joseph disease is regarded as a type of lower motoneuron disease [8].
• Anterior horn cell ubiquitin-immunoreactive (IR) inclusions were present in all of 31 ALS cases but in none of 23 neurologically normal and in only 1 of 22 neurologically abnormal controls [9].
• Virus antigen was localized predominantly to anterior horn cells in infected IFN-gamma(-/-) H-2(q) mice [10].

Chemical compound and disease context of Anterior Horn Cells

• Thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) has potential therapeutic applications in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and related diseases because of its function as a neuroregulator of the anterior horn cell [11].

Biological context of Anterior Horn Cells

• There is reason to believe that glutamate, an excitatory neurotransmitter, enhances programmed cell death of anterior horn cells [12].
• Preferential enhancement of inhibitory synaptic transmission by CS-722 in the ventral horn neurons of neonatal rat spinal cord [13].
• Six additional patients had anterior horn cell disease but were negative for the SMN1 gene deletion [14].
• Klotho insufficiency causes decrease of ribosomal RNA gene transcription activity, cytoplasmic RNA and rough ER in the spinal anterior horn cells [15].
• HSP 73 immunoreactivity was first detected in the embryo at 6 weeks of gestational age (GW) in the ventral horn cells of the spinal cord and the dorsal root ganglion cells [16].

Anatomical context of Anterior Horn Cells

• We found a 41% decrease (p < 0.02) in the NF-L mRNA levels in anterior horn cells in ALS, with a 60% decrease (p < or = 0.01) in alpha motor neurons [17].
• Using a morphometric method, we studied ventral spinal roots and anterior horn neurons of the fourth lumbar segment in 17 patients with ALS [18].
• IL-11 is also expressed in anterior horn cells and lateral column neuronal cells of the spinal cord [19].
• They demonstrate that in contrast to observations made on ventral horn neurons, receptor density for all the excitatory amino acid receptors on dorsal horn neurons, including the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor, are generally higher on the dendrites than on the soma [20].
• Histochemical staining for NADPH diaphorase, which detects enzymatic activity of NOS, revealed positive reactivity in untreated EAE rats both in parenchymal blood vessel walls and in anterior horn cell neurons, while normal rats and rats with EAE treated with AG showed predominantly the neuronal positivity [21].

Associations of Anterior Horn Cells with chemical compounds

• DN-1417 is an analog of thyrotropin-releasing hormone, which has less endocrinologic activity, but more anterior horn cell stimulating effect (with no "autorefractory state") [22].
• They also reinforce the view that varicosities are important neuronal structures, which modulate the function of dorsal and ventral horn neurons by releasing serotonin [23].
• Angiotensin AT(1)-receptors depolarize neonatal spinal motoneurons and other ventral horn neurons via two different conductances [24].
• Presence of functional vasopressin receptors in spinal ventral horn neurons of young rats: a morphological and electrophysiological study [25].
• We estimate that approximately 10 postsynaptic channels are activated by a single quantum of GABA release during an mPSC and that about 30 extrasynaptic GABAa channels are required for generation of the tonic I(GABAa) in ventral horn neurons [26].

Gene context of Anterior Horn Cells

• Frequently, TRH terminals were seen adjacent to large ventral horn neurons [27].
• Both 7-nitroindazole and aminoguanidine significantly antagonized the increases of cNOS and iNOS activities measured by conversion of 3H-L-arginine to 3H-L-citrulline in the ventral spinal cord, and blocked the Dyn-induced increases of ncNOS-immunoreactivity in the ventral horn cells 4 h after i.t. Dyn A(1-17) 20 nmol [28].
• Immunoreactivities for BDNF, NT-3, trkB and trkC were preferentially localized in the gray matter, particularly in the anterior horn cells [29].
• The anterior horn neurons of MND cases of short clinical duration showed absent IR to FKBP 12 antibody but present IR to RyR (type 1 and 2) antibodies [30].
• Furthermore, we demonstrate that Bcl-xL blocks cytochrome c release from mitochondria, causing activation of caspase-9 in anterior horn cells and dorsal root ganglia neurons in mouse embryos at embryonic day 11.5 [31].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Anterior Horn Cells

• In addition, postembedding immunoelectron microscopy reveals that GluR2 is present in synapses of dorsal and ventral horn neurons and that the percentage of labeled synapses and numbers of immunogold particles per synapse do not vary between these spinal cord regions [32].
• We studied the modulatory effect of (R)-4-chloro-2-(2-hydroxy-3-morpholinopropyl)-5-phenyl-4-isoxaz olin-3-one hydrochloride (CS-722), a centrally acting muscle relaxant, on synaptic transmission in the ventral horn neurons of neonatal rat lumbar spinal cord in slices using whole cell recording techniques [13].
• Structural changes in lumbosacral ventral horn neurons and their synaptic input were studied at 3, 10, 21, 42, and 90 days following low thoracic cord hemisection in adult rats by light microscopic examination of synaptophysin immunoreactivity (SYN-IR) and by electron microscopy [33].
• Microinjections of AlCl3 were administered directly to the rabbit lumbar spinal cord; the injections resulted in the accumulation of neurofilament bundles in upwards of 80% of the anterior horn cells [34].
• Both cytoplasmic and nuclear staining of the anterior horn cells were reduced after treatment of tissue sections with RNase [35].

References