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- Title
Membrane-shaping disorders: a common pathway in axon degeneration.
- Authors
Hübner, Christian A.; Kurth, Ingo
- Abstract
Mutations in membrane-shaping proteins underlie many axonopathies: neurodegenerative disorders that primarily affect long axons of the CNS or PNS, and which include hereditary spastic paraplegias and sensory neuropathies. Hübner & Kurth review relevant genes and disease mechanisms, and propose that membrane-shaping disorders represent a continuous disease-spectrum of the axon.Neurons with long projections are particularly liable to damage, which is reflected by a large group of hereditary neurodegenerative disorders that primarily affect these neurons. In the group of hereditary spastic paraplegias motor axons of the central nervous system degenerate, while distal pure motor neuropathies, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disorders and the group of hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathies are characterized by degeneration of peripheral nerve fibres. Because the underlying pathologies share many parallels, the disorders are also referred to as axonopathies. A large number of genes has been associated with axonopathies and one of the emerging subgroups encodes membrane-shaping proteins with a central reticulon homology domain. Association of these proteins with lipid bilayers induces positive membrane curvature and influences the architecture of cellular organelles. Membrane-shaping proteins closely cooperate and directly interact with each other, but their structural features and localization to distinct subdomains of organelles suggests mutually exclusive roles. In some individuals a mutation in a shaping protein can result in upper motor neuron dysfunction, whereas in other patients it can lead to a degeneration of peripheral neurons. This suggests that membrane-shaping disorders might be considered as a continuous disease-spectrum of the axon.
- Subjects
SENSORY neurons; AXONS; NEURODEGENERATION; GENETIC disorders; RETICULON proteins
- Publication
Brain: A Journal of Neurology, 2014, Vol 137, Issue 12, p3109
- ISSN
0006-8950
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/brain/awu287