Wallerian degeneration is observed in many neurological disorders, and it is therefore important to elucidate the axonal degeneration mechanism to prevent, and further develop treatment for, such diseases. The ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) has been implicated in Wallerian degeneration, but the underlying molecular mechanism remains unclear. Here we show that ZNRF1, an E3 ligase, promotes Wallerian degeneration by targeting AKT to degrade through the UPS. AKT phosphorylates glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK3B), and thereby inactivates it in axons. AKT overexpression significantly delays axonal degeneration. Overexpression of the active (non-phosphorylated) form of GSK3B induces CRMP2 phosphorylation, which is required for the microtubule reorganization observed in the degenerating axon. The inhibition of GSK3B and the overexpression of non-phosphorylated CRMP2 both protected axons from Wallerian degeneration. These findings indicate that the ZNRF1-AKT-GSK3B-CRMP2 pathway plays an important role in controlling Wallerian degeneration.

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Rapid saltatory nerve conduction is facilitated by myelin structure, which is composed of Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system. Schwann cells drastically change their phenotype following peripheral nerve injury. These phenotypic changes are required for efficient degeneration/regeneration. We previously identified ZNRF1 as an E3 ubiquitin ligase containing a RING finger motif, whose expression is upregulated in the Schwann cells following nerve injury. This suggested that posttranscriptional regulation of protein expression in Schwann cells may be involved in their phenotypic changes during nerve degeneration/regeneration. Here we report the identification of glutamine synthetase (GS), an enzyme that synthesizes glutamine using glutamate and ammonia, as a substrate for E3 activity of ZNRF1 in Schwann cells. GS is known to be highly expressed in differentiated Schwann cells, but its functional significance has remained unclear. We found that during nerve degeneration/regeneration, GS expression is controlled mostly by ZNRF1-dependent proteasomal degradation. We also found that Schwann cells increase oxidative stress upon initiation of nerve degeneration, which promotes carbonylation and subsequent degradation of GS. Surprisingly, we discovered that GS expression regulates Schwann cell differentiation; i.e., increased GS expression promotes myelination via its enzymatic activity. Among the substrates and products of GS, increased glutamate concentration inhibited myelination and yet promoted Schwann cell proliferation by activating metabotropic glutamate receptor signaling. This would suggest that GS may exert its effect on Schwann cell differentiation by regulating glutamate concentration. These results indicate that the ZNRF1-GS system may play an important role in correlating Schwann cell metabolism with its differentiation.

Müller glia, the principal glial cell type in the retina, have the potential to reenter the cell cycle after retinal injury. In mammals, proliferation of Müller glia is followed by gliosis, but not regeneration of neurons. Retinal injury is also accompanied by phagocytic removal of degenerated cells. We here investigated the possibility that proliferation and gliosis of Müller glia and phagocytosis of degenerated cells may be regulated by the same molecular pathways. After N-methyl-N-nitrosourea-induced retinal injury, degenerated photoreceptors were eliminated prior to the infiltration of microglia/macrophages into the outer nuclear layer, almost in parallel with cell cycle reentry of Müller glia. Inhibition of microglia/macrophage activation with minocycline did not affect the photoreceptor clearance. Accumulation of lysosomes and rhodopsin-positive photoreceptor debris within the cytoplasm of Müller glia indicated that Müller glia phagocytosed most photoreceptor debris. Pharmacological inhibition of phosphatidylserine and Rac1, key regulators of the phagocytic pathway, prevented cell cycle reentry, migration, upregulation of glial fibrillary acidic protein, and phagocytic activity of Müller glia. These data provide evidence that phosphatidylserine and Rac1 may contribute to the crosstalk between different signaling pathways activated in Müller glia after injury.Müller glia, the principal glial cells in the retina, possess a variety of functions to support retinal neurons and act to maintain retinal homeostasis under physiological as well as pathological conditions 1,2 . In lower vertebrates like fish, retinal injury induces Müller glia to proliferate and dedifferentiate to neuronal progenitor cells that are capable of regenerating retinal neurons 3,4 . In mammals, however, such regenerative capacity of Müller glia is extremely limited. In rats, for example, Müller glia proliferate in response to injury, but they quickly exit the cell cycle and many undergo cell death possibly by DNA damage response 5 . In addition, Müller glia in mammals show a set of injury-induced responses called reactive gliosis, including cellular hypertrophy, migration, and upregulation of intermediate filaments such as glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and vimentin 6 . Although gliosis may be neuroprotective, it may hamper tissue repair if the reaction is prolonged 6 .Previous evidence has indicated that the injury-induced responses of Müller glia are mediated by growth factors or cytokines secreted from damaged neurons, microglia, or Müller glia themselves 6-8 . A pioneering study by Rattner and Nathans 9 showed that damaged photoreceptors produce endothelin2 (Edn2), which signals onto Müller glia and induces their reactive responses such as GFAP upregulation. However, the Edn2-mediated interaction between damaged photoreceptors and Müller glia seems to be initiated by Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) release from Müller glia 10 . Upregulation of LIF has been observed in a variety of retinal injury models 10-13 , and TNFα may be i...

Our findings suggest that the DNA damage response induced by unscheduled cell cycle reentry may be one of the mechanisms that limit the proliferative and regenerative capacity of Müller glia in the mammalian retina.