Dual leucine zipper kinase is required for excitotoxicity-induced neuronal degeneration

作者：Pozniak Christine D; Ghosh Arundhati Sengupta; Gogineni Alvin; Hanson Jesse E; Lee Seung Hye; Larson Jessica L; Solanoy Hilda; Bustos Daisy; Li Hong; Hai Ngu; Jubb Adrian M; Ayalon Gai; Wu Jiansheng; Scearce Levie Kimberly; Zhou Qiang; Weimer Robby M; Kirkpatrick Donald S; Lewcock Joseph W^*

来源：Journal of Experimental Medicine, 2013, 210(12): 2553-2567.

DOI：10.1084/jem.20122832

Excessive glutamate signaling is thought to underlie neurodegeneration in multiple contexts, yet the pro-degenerative signaling pathways downstream of glutamate receptor activation are not well defined. We show that dual leucine zipper kinase (DLK) is essential for excitotoxicity-induced degeneration of neurons in vivo. In mature neurons, DLK is present in the synapse and interacts with multiple known postsynaptic density proteins including the scaffolding protein PSD-95. To examine DLK function in the adult, DLK-inducible knockout mice were generated through Tamoxifen-induced activation of Cre-ERT in mice containing a floxed DLK allele, which circumvents the neonatal lethality associated with germline deletion. DLK-inducible knockouts displayed a modest increase in basal synaptic transmission but had an attenuation of the JNK/c-Jun stress response pathway activation and significantly reduced neuronal degeneration after kainic acid-induced seizures. Together, these data demonstrate that DLK is a critical upstream regulator of JNK-mediated neurodegeneration downstream of glutamate receptor hyper-activation and represents an attractive target for the treatment of indications where excitotoxicity is a primary driver of neuronal loss.

• 出版日期2013-11-18