No abstract

Multiple sclerosis is a neuroinflammatory disease associated with axonal degeneration. The neuronally expressed, proton-gated acid-sensing ion channel-1 (ASIC1) is permeable to Na+ and Ca2+, and excessive accumulation of these ions is associated with axonal degeneration. We tested the hypothesis that ASIC1 contributes to axonal degeneration in inflammatory lesions of the central nervous system (CNS). After induction of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), Asic1-/- mice showed both a markedly reduced clinical deficit and reduced axonal degeneration compared to wild-type mice. Consistently with acidosis-mediated injury, pH measurements in the spinal cord of EAE mice showed tissue acidosis sufficient to open ASIC1. The acidosis-related protective effect of Asic1 disruption was also observed in nerve explants in vitro. Amiloride, a licensed and clinically safe blocker of ASICs, was equally neuroprotective in nerve explants and in EAE. Although ASICs are also expressed by immune cells, this expression is unlikely to explain the neuroprotective effect of Asic1 inactivation, as CNS inflammation was similar in wild-type and Asic1-/- mice. In addition, adoptive transfer of T cells from wild-type mice did not affect the protection mediated by Asic1 disruption. These results suggest that ASIC1 blockers could provide neuroprotection in multiple sclerosis.

Although voltage-gated sodium channels are known to be deployed along experimentally demyelinated axons, the molecular identities of the sodium channels expressed along axons in human demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) have not been determined. Here we demonstrate changes in the expression of sodium channels in demyelinated axons in MS, with Nav1.6 confined to nodes of Ranvier in controls but with diffuse distribution of Nav1.2 and Nav1.6 along extensive regions of demyelinated axons within acute MS plaques. Using triple-labeled fluorescent immunocytochemistry, we also show that Nav1.6, which is known to produce a persistent sodium current, and the Na ؉ ͞Ca 2؉ exchanger, which can be driven by persistent sodium current to import damaging levels of calcium into axons, are colocalized with ␤-amyloid precursor protein, a marker of axonal injury, in acute MS lesions. Our results demonstrate the molecular identities of the sodium channels expressed along demyelinated and degenerating axons in MS and suggest that coexpression of Nav1.6 and Na ؉ ͞Ca 2؉ exchanger is associated with axonal degeneration in MS.demyelinating diseases ͉ action potential conduction ͉ axonal degeneration