Limbic structures are prone to age-related impairments in proteasome activity and neuronal ubiquitinated inclusions in SAMP10 mouse: a model of cerebral degeneration

Abstract

Aims: Neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by ubiquitinated inclusions in selective brain regions. Here we investigated whether the dysfunction of the ubiquitin proteasome system might be involved in the pathogenesis and regional selectivity of neuronal ubiquitinated inclusions using the SAMP10 strain of mouse, an inbred model of age-related cerebral degeneration.

Methods: By comparing SAMP10 mice at various ages with SAMR1 and C57BL mice as normal brain ageing controls, we studied morphological features and distribution of inclusions. We measured tissue proteasome activity in different brain regions of mice at various ages by fluorogenic substrate assays. We induced inclusions in cultured neurones by inhibiting the proteasome and analysed changes in the dendritic morphology.

Results: Inclusions were formed in association with lipofuscin in neuronal perikarya and occurred most frequently in the limbic-related forebrain structures. There were sparse inclusion-bearing neurones in the non-limbic forebrain. In aged SAMR1 and C57BL, there were far fewer inclusions in the limbic-related forebrain than in aged SAMP10. The proteasome activity in the limbic-related forebrain decreased much more rapidly and remarkably upon ageing (26% activity was detected in 17-month-old compared with 3-month-old mice) in SAMP10 than in SAMR1. The proteasome activity in the non-limbic forebrain did not change significantly with advancing age in either SAMP10 or SAMR1. Proteasomal inhibition enhanced the formation of ubiquitinated inclusions in cultured neurones. Neurones bearing inclusions had shortened neurites.

Conclusions: We propose that the regional selectivity of proteasomal impairment is causally related to the selectivity of inclusion formation and associated dendritic degeneration in neurones of ageing SAMP10 mice.