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In vivo imaging of injured cortical axons reveals a rapid onset form of Wallerian degeneration.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Despite the widespread occurrence of axon and synaptic loss in the injured and diseased nervous system, the cellular and molecular mechanisms of these key degenerative processes remain incompletely understood. Wallerian degeneration (WD) is a tightly regulated form of axon loss after injury, which has been intensively studied in large myelinated fibre tracts of the spinal cord, optic nerve and peripheral nervous system (PNS). Fewer studies, however, have focused on WD in the complex neuronal circuits of the mammalian brain, and these were mainly based on conventional endpoint histological methods. Post-mortem analysis, however, cannot capture the exact sequence of events nor can it evaluate the influence of elaborated arborisation and synaptic architecture on the degeneration process, due to the non-synchronous and variable nature of WD across individual axons. RESULTS:To gain a comprehensive picture of the spatiotemporal dynamics and synaptic mechanisms of WD in the nervous system, we identify the factors that regulate WD within the mouse cerebral cortex. We combined single-axon-resolution multiphoton imaging with laser microsurgery through a cranial window and a fluorescent membrane reporter. Longitudinal imaging of >?150 individually injured excitatory cortical axons revealed a threshold length below which injured axons consistently underwent a rapid-onset form of WD (roWD). roWD started on average 20 times earlier and was executed 3 times slower than WD described in other regions of the nervous system. Cortical axon WD and roWD were dependent on synaptic density, but independent of axon complexity. Finally, pharmacological and genetic manipulations showed that a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)-dependent pathway could delay cortical roWD independent of transcription in the damaged neurons, demonstrating further conservation of the molecular mechanisms controlling WD in different areas of the mammalian nervous system. CONCLUSIONS:Our data illustrate how in vivo time-lapse imaging can provide new insights into the spatiotemporal dynamics and synaptic mechanisms of axon loss and assess therapeutic interventions in the injured mammalian brain.

SUBMITTER: Canty AJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7677840 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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In vivo imaging of injured cortical axons reveals a rapid onset form of Wallerian degeneration.

Canty Alison Jane AJ Jackson Johanna Sara JS Huang Lieven L Trabalza Antonio A Bass Cher C Little Graham G Tortora Maria M Khan Shabana S De Paola Vincenzo V

BMC biology 20201118 1

<h4>Background</h4>Despite the widespread occurrence of axon and synaptic loss in the injured and diseased nervous system, the cellular and molecular mechanisms of these key degenerative processes remain incompletely understood. Wallerian degeneration (WD) is a tightly regulated form of axon loss after injury, which has been intensively studied in large myelinated fibre tracts of the spinal cord, optic nerve and peripheral nervous system (PNS). Fewer studies, however, have focused on WD in the c ...[more]

PMID: 33208154

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Project description:Abstract: Wallerian degeneration (WD) is a process of autonomous distal degeneration of axons upon injury. Macrophages (MP) of the peripheral nervous system (PNS) are main cellular agent controlling this process. Some evidences suggest that resident PNS-MP along with MP of hematogenous origin may be involved but whether these two subsets exert distinct functions is unknown. Combining MP-designed fluorescent reporters mice, and coherent anti-stoke raman scattering (CARS) imaging of the sciatic nerve, we deciphered the spatio-temporal choreography of resident and recently recruited MP after injury and unveiled distinct functions of these subsets with recruited MP responsible of efficient myelin stripping and clearance while resident MP were involved in axonal regrowth. This work provides clues to tackle selectively cellular processes involved in neurodegenerative diseases. Methods: (relevant for this GEO dataset): RNAseq of sciatic nerve macrophages from mice after CCI: Sorted cells were lysed in 100µl of RA1/TCEP buffer (NucleoSpin RNA XS, Macherey-Nagel), snap frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at -80C until RNA extraction. All samples were processed in parallel and RNA extraction (without Carrier RNA but with on-column DNase treatment) was performed according to manufacturer's instructions (NucleoSpin RNA XS, Macherey-Nagel). RNA was eluted in RNAse-free water. Preparation of cDNA libraries for RNAseq was done using the SmartSeq method according to manufacturer's instructions (SMART-Seq v4 Ultra Low Input RNA Kit for Sequencing, Clontech/TaKaRa). Due to the low number of cells, the total amount of eluted RNA was used as starting material for reverse transcription, followed by 18 cycles of pre-amplification. 1ng of cDNA were used for RNAseq sequencing library preparation, according to manufacturer's instructions (Nextera XT DNA Library Preparation, Illumina). Final samples pooled library prep were sequenced on a Nextseq 500 ILLUMINA with MidOutPut cartridge (2x130Millions of 75 bases reads) with 2 runs (4plex and 5plex), corresponding to 2x30Millions of (paired-end) reads per sample after demultiplexing.

Project description:BackgroundThe progressive nature of Wallerian degeneration has long been controversial. Conflicting reports that distal stumps of injured axons degenerate anterogradely, retrogradely, or simultaneously are based on statistical observations at discontinuous locations within the nerve, without observing any single axon at two distant points. As axon degeneration is asynchronous, there are clear advantages to longitudinal studies of individual degenerating axons. We recently validated the study of Wallerian degeneration using yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) in a small, representative population of axons, which greatly improves longitudinal imaging. Here, we apply this method to study the progressive nature of Wallerian degeneration in both wild-type and slow Wallerian degeneration (WldS) mutant mice.ResultsIn wild-type nerves, we directly observed partially fragmented axons (average 5.3%) among a majority of fully intact or degenerated axons 37-42 h after transection and 40-44 h after crush injury. Axons exist in this state only transiently, probably for less than one hour. Surprisingly, axons degenerated anterogradely after transection but retrogradely after a crush, but in both cases a sharp boundary separated intact and fragmented regions of individual axons, indicating that Wallerian degeneration progresses as a wave sequentially affecting adjacent regions of the axon. In contrast, most or all WldS axons were partially fragmented 15-25 days after nerve lesion, WldS axons degenerated anterogradely independent of lesion type, and signs of degeneration increased gradually along the nerve instead of abruptly. Furthermore, the first signs of degeneration were short constrictions, not complete breaks.ConclusionsWe conclude that Wallerian degeneration progresses rapidly along individual wild-type axons after a heterogeneous latent phase. The speed of progression and its ability to travel in either direction challenges earlier models in which clearance of trophic or regulatory factors by axonal transport triggers degeneration. WldS axons, once they finally degenerate, do so by a fundamentally different mechanism, indicated by differences in the rate, direction and abruptness of progression, and by different early morphological signs of degeneration. These observations suggest that WldS axons undergo a slow anterograde decay as axonal components are gradually depleted, and do not simply follow the degeneration pathway of wild-type axons at a slower rate.

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In vivo imaging of injured cortical axons reveals a rapid onset form of Wallerian degeneration.

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In vivo imaging of injured cortical axons reveals a rapid onset form of Wallerian degeneration.

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