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Activation of the caspase-3 apoptotic cascade in traumatic spinal cord injury

Nature Medicine volume 5, pages 943–946 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

Traumatic spinal cord injury often results in complete loss of voluntary motor and sensory function below the site of injury. The long-term neurological deficits after spinal cord trauma may be due in part to widespread apoptosis of neurons and oligodendroglia in regions distant from and relatively unaffected by the initial injury1,2,3,4. The caspase family of cysteine proteases regulates the execution of the mammalian apoptotic cell death program5,6,7. Caspase-3 cleaves several essential downstream substrates involved in the expression of the apoptotic phenotype in vitro, including gelsolin, PAK2, fodrin, nuclear lamins and the inhibitory subunit of DNA fragmentation factor8,9,10,11,12. Caspase-3 activation in vitro can be triggered by upstream events, leading to the release of cytochrome c from the mitochondria and the subsequent transactivation of procaspase-9 by Apaf-1 (refs. 13, 14, 15). We report here that these upstream and downstream components of the caspase-3 apoptotic pathway are activated after traumatic spinal cord injury in rats, and occur early in neurons in the injury site and hours to days later in oligodendroglia adjacent to and distant from the injury site. Given these findings, targeting the upstream events of the caspase-3 cascade has therapeutic potential in the treatment of acute traumatic injury to the spinal cord.

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Figure 1: Induction of caspase-3 mediated DNA fragmentation activity in cell-free extracts obtained from control and injured rat spinal cords.
Figure 2: Immunoblots and semi-quantitative densitometric analysis of cytosolic fractions of control and injured spinal cord.
Figure 3: Laser-scanned confocal images of DFF40/CAD immunoreactivity in neurons and oligodendroglia.
Figure 4: Immunohistochemical detection of CAD and cytochrome c in oligodendroglia of injured rat spinal cord.

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Acknowledgements

We thank X. Wang for suggestions, B. Maley for assistance with the confocal images, and D.M. Gash and J.P. Herman for critically reviewing earlier versions of the manuscript. These studies were supported by PHS grant NS-30248 (J.E.S.) and grants from the Kentucky Spinal Cord and Head Injury Research Trust (J.E..S and P.E.K.).

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  1. Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Kentucky Medical Center, 800 Rose Street, Lexington, 40536-0084, Kentucky, USA

    Joe E. Springer, Robert D. Azbill & Pamela E. Knapp

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Correspondence to Joe E. Springer.

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Springer, J., Azbill, R. & Knapp, P. Activation of the caspase-3 apoptotic cascade in traumatic spinal cord injury. Nat Med 5, 943–946 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/11387

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