Methionine sulfoximine, an inhibitor of glutamine synthetase, lowers brain glutamine and glutamate in a mouse model of ALS

In an effort to alter the levels of neurochemicals involved in excitotoxicity, we treated mice with methionine sulfoximine (MSO), an inhibitor of glutamine synthetase. Since glutamate toxicity has been proposed as a mechanism for the degeneration of motor neurons in a variety of neurodegenerative diseases, we tested the effects of MSO on the transgenic mouse that overexpresses the mutant human SOD1G93A gene, an animal model for the primary inherited form of the human neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This treatment in vivo reduced glutamine synthetase activity measured in vitro by 85%. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy, with magic angle spinning of intact samples of brain tissue, showed that MSO treatment reduced brain levels of glutamine by 60% and of glutamate by 30% in both the motor cortex and the anterior striatum, while also affecting levels of GABA and glutathione. Kaplan–Meyer survival analysis revealed that MSO treatment significantly extended the lifespan of these mice by 8% (p < 0.01). These results show that in the SOD1G93A model of neurodegenerative diseases, the concentration of brain glutamate (determined with 1H-MRS) can be lowered by inhibiting in vivo the synthesis of glutamine with non-toxic doses of MSO.