Expression of apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 in mouse spinal cord under chronic mechanical compression: possible involvement of the stress-activated mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways in spinal cord cell apoptosis.

Study Design: To examine apoptosis signal cascade in neurons and oligodendrocytes under the chronic spinal cord compression of tiptoe-walking Yoshimura (TWY) mouse, which is model of progressive cervical cord compression.

Objective: To clarify the biologic mechanisms of apoptosis, which may produce destructive changes in the spinal cord under chronic mechanical compression, with a resulting irreversible neurologic deficit.

Summary of Background Data: The stress-activated mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways including ASK1 transmitted apoptosis signals after acute spinal cord injury. Apoptosis in acute spinal cord injury induced both secondary degeneration around the site of injury and chronic demyelination. Chronic spinal cord compression showed myelin destruction, loss of axons, and oligodendrocytes in white matter, and loss of neurons in gray matter. Apoptosis associated with chronic spinal cord compression contributes to these changes. However, the biologic mechanisms of apoptosis in the spinal cord under chronic mechanical compression remain unclear.

Methods: We examined the expression of phosphorylated-apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 (ASK1), phosphorylated-c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), phosphorylated-p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38), and activated caspase-3 immunohistologically in TWY mice, an animal model of progressive cervical spinal cord compression, since the ASK1-JNK and -p38 signaling cascades participate in the signaling pathway leading to apoptosis in neural tissue and neuronal culture.

Results: Double immunohistochemistry for phosphorylated-ASK1, phosphorylated-JNK, phosphorylated-p38, activated-caspase3, and cell-specific markers confirmed the presence of apoptosis signals in both neurons and oligodendrocytes in compressed spinal cord cells.

Conclusion: We found that mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways including ASK1, JNK, and p38 were activated in destructive spinal cord under chronic compression.