Inducible superoxide dismutase 1 aggregation in transgenic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis mouse fibroblasts

High molecular weight detergent‐insoluble complexes of superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) enzyme are a biochemical abnormality associated with mutant SOD1‐linked familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS). In the present study, SOD1 protein from spinal cords of transgenic FALS mice was fractionated according to solubility in saline, zwitterionic, non‐ionic or anionic detergents. Both endogenous mouse SOD1 and mutant human SOD1 were least soluble in SDS, followed by NP‐40 and CHAPS, with an eight‐fold greater detergent resistance of mutant protein overall. Importantly, high molecular weight mutant SOD1 complexes were isolated with SDS‐extraction only. To reproduce SOD1 aggregate pathology in vitro, primary fibroblasts were isolated and cultured from neonatal transgenic FALS mice. Fibroblasts expressed abundant mutant SOD1 without spontaneous aggregation over time with passage. Proteasomal inhibition of cultures using lactacystin induced dose‐dependent aggregation and increased the SDS‐insoluble fraction of mutant SOD1, but not endogenous SOD1. In contrast, paraquat‐mediated superoxide stress in fibroblasts promoted aggregation of endogenous SOD1, but not mutant SOD1. Treatment of cultures with peroxynitrite or the copper chelator diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC) alone did not modulate aggregation. However, DDC inhibited lactacystin‐induced mutant SOD1 aggregation in transgenic fibroblasts, while exogenous copper slightly augmented aggregation. These data suggest that SOD1 aggregates may derive from proteasomal or oxidation‐mediated oligomerisation pathways from mutant and endogenous subunits respectively. Furthermore, these pathways may be affected by copper availability. We propose that non‐neural cultures such as these transgenic fibroblasts with inducible SOD1 aggregation may be useful for rapid screening of compounds with anti‐aggregation potential in FALS. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.