Ethanol-induced damage to the developing spinal cord: The involvement of CCR2 signaling

Publication date: November 2017 Source:Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Basis of Disease, Volume 1863, Issue 11 Author(s): Zhenhua Ren, Xin Wang, Fanmuyi Yang, Mei Xu, Jacqueline A. Frank, Haiping Wang, Siying Wang, Zun-ji Ke, Jia Luo Ethanol exposure during development causes fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). A large body of evidence shows that ethanol produces multiple abnormalities in the developing central nervous system (CNS), such as smaller brain size, reduced volume of cerebral white matter, permanent loss of neurons, and alterations in synaptogenesis and myelinogenesis. The effects of ethanol on the developing spinal cord, however, receive little attention and remain unclear. We used a third trimester equivalent mouse model to investigate the effect of ethanol on the developing spinal cord. Ethanol caused apoptosis and neurodegeneration in the dorsal horn neurons of mice of early postnatal days, which was accompanied by glial activation, macrophage infiltration, and increased expression of CCR2, a receptor for monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1). Ethanol-induced neuronal death during development resulted in permanent loss of spinal cord neurons in adult mice. Ethanol stimulated endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and oxidative stress, and activated glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) pathways. Knocking out MCP-1 or CCR2 made mice resistant to ethanol-induced apoptosis, ER stress, glial activati...
Source: Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) Molecular Basis of Disease - Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research