Expression of ciliary neurotrophic factor receptor in myasthenia gravis

Muscle and motor neuron ciliary neurotrophic factor receptor α together maintain adult motor neuron axons in vivo

The molecular mechanisms maintaining adult motor innervation are comparatively unexplored relative to those involved during development. In addition to the fundamental neuroscience question, this area has important clinical ramifications given that loss of neuromuscular contact is thought to underlie several adult onset human neuromuscular diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Indirect evidence suggests that ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) receptors may contribute to adult motor neuron axon maintenance. To directly address this in vivo, we used adult onset mouse genetic disruption techniques to deplete motor neuron and muscle CNTF receptor α (CNTFRα), the essential ligand binding subunit of the receptor, and incorporated reporters labelling affected motor neuron axons and terminals. The combined depletion of motor neuron and muscle CNTFRα produced a large loss of motor neuron terminals and retrograde labelling of motor neurons with FluoroGold indicated axon die-back well beyond muscle, together revealing an essential role for CNTFRα in adult motor axon maintenance. In contrast, selective depletion of motor neuron CNTFRα did not affect motor innervation. These data, along with our previous work indicating no effect of muscle specific CNTFRα depletion on motor innervation, suggest that motor neuron and muscle CNTFRα function in concert to maintain motor neuron axons. The data also raise the possibility of motor neuron and/or muscle CNTFRα as therapeutic targets for adult neuromuscular denervating diseases.

Muscle ciliary neurotrophic factor receptor α promotes axonal regeneration and functional recovery following peripheral nerve lesion

Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) administration maintains, protects, and promotes the regeneration of both motor neurons (MNs) and skeletal muscle in a wide variety of models. Expression of CNTF receptor α (CNTFRα), an essential CNTF receptor component, is greatly increased in skeletal muscle following neuromuscular insult. Together the data suggest that muscle CNTFRα may contribute to neuromuscular maintenance, protection, and/or regeneration in vivo. To directly address the role of muscle CNTFRα, we selectively-depleted it in vivo by using a "floxed" CNTFRα mouse line and a gene construct (mlc1f-Cre) that drives the expression of Cre specifically in skeletal muscle. The resulting mice were challenged with sciatic nerve crush. Counting of nerve axons and retrograde tracing of MNs indicated that muscle CNTFRα contributes to MN axonal regeneration across the lesion site. Walking track analysis indicated that muscle CNTFRα is also required for normal recovery of motor function. However, the same muscle CNTFRα depletion unexpectedly had no detected effect on the maintenance or regeneration of the muscle itself, even though exogenous CNTF has been shown to affect these functions. Similarly, MN survival and lesion-induced terminal sprouting were unaffected. Therefore, muscle CNTFRα is an interesting new example of a muscle growth factor receptor that, in vivo under physiological conditions, contributes much more to neuronal regeneration than to the maintenance or regeneration of the muscle itself. This novel form of muscle-neuron interaction also has implications in the therapeutic targeting of the neuromuscular system in MN disorders and following nerve injury. J. Comp. Neurol. 521: 2947-2965, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

CNTF, a pleiotropic cytokine: emphasis on its myotrophic role

Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) is a cytokine whose neurotrophic and differentiating effects over cells in the central nervous system (CNS) have been clearly demonstrated. This article summarizes the general characteristics of CNTF, its receptor and the signaling pathway that it activates and focuses on its effects over skeletal muscle, one of its major target tissues outside the central nervous system. The evidence for the existence of other molecules that signal through the same complex as CNTF is also reviewed.