Transgenic mice for interleukin 3 develop motor neuron degeneration associated with autoimmune reaction against spinal cord motor neurons.

C Chavany; C Vicario-Abejón; G Miller; M Jendoubi

doi:10.1073/pnas.95.19.11354

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Transgenic mice for interleukin 3 develop motor neuron degeneration associated with autoimmune reaction against spinal cord motor neurons.

C Chavany·C Vicario-Abejón·G Miller·M Jendoubi

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Abstract

Interleukin 3 (IL-3) stimulates the proliferation and differentiation of various haematopoietic progenitor cells. Recently, IL-3 and other cytokines were reported to exert a neurotrophic activity and to be associated with neurological disorders, suggesting their complex role in the central nervous system. We now show that overexpression of IL-3 in transgenic mice causes a motor neuron disease with several features of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and progressive muscular atrophy. These animals exhibit hind limb paralysis at 7 months of age, associated with dendritic and axonal degeneration, loss of motor neurons in the spinal cord, and autoimmune reaction against these cells. We examined the effect of IL-3 on embryonic motor neurons survival in mixed spinal cord cultures. Our results suggest that motor neuronal degeneration is not directly triggered by the high level of expression of IL-3.

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Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Animals Autoimmunity Brain Cell Survival Disease Models, Animal Gene Expression Regulation Histocytochemistry Immunohistochemistry Interleukin-3 Mice Mice, Transgenic Motor Neuron Disease Motor Neurons Muscular Atrophy Paralysis Spinal Cord Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

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C Chavany, C Vicario-Abejón, G Miller, M Jendoubi. 1998-09-15. Transgenic mice for interleukin 3 develop motor neuron degeneration associated with autoimmune reaction against spinal cord motor neurons.. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.95.19.11354

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