New cellular imaging-based method to distinguish the SPG4 subtype of hereditary spastic paraplegia.

Microtubule defects are a common feature in several neurodegenerative disorders, including hereditary spastic paraplegia. The most frequent form of hereditary spastic paraplegia is caused by mutations in the SPG4/SPAST gene, encoding the microtubule severing enzyme spastin. To date, there is no effective therapy available but spastin-enhancing therapeutic approaches are emerging; thus prognostic and predictive biomarkers are urgently required. An automated, simple, fast and non-invasive cell imaging-based method was developed to quantify microtubule cytoskeleton organization changes in lymphoblastoid cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells. It was observed that lymphoblastoid cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells from individuals affected by SPG4-hereditary spastic paraplegia show a polarized microtubule cytoskeleton organization. In a pilot study on freshly isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells, our method discriminates SPG4-hereditary spastic paraplegia from healthy donors and other hereditary spastic paraplegia subtypes. In addition, it is shown that our method can detect the effects of spastin protein level changes. These findings open the possibility of a rapid, non-invasive, inexpensive test useful to recognize SPG4-hereditary spastic paraplegia subtype and evaluate the effects of spastin-enhancing drug in non-neuronal cells. © 2023 The Authors. European Journal of Neurology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Academy of Neurology.

Citation

Francesca Sardina, Davide Valente, Gaia Fattorini, Ettore Cioffi, Gianmarco Dalla Zanna, Alessandra Tessa, Daniela Trisciuoglio, Silvia Soddu, Filippo M Santorelli, Carlo Casali, Cinzia Rinaldo. New cellular imaging-based method to distinguish the SPG4 subtype of hereditary spastic paraplegia. European journal of neurology. 2023 Jun;30(6):1734-1744

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PMID: 36815539

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