Caspase 6 has a protective role in SOD1G93A transgenic mice

In amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), it has been suggested that the process of neurodegeneration starts at the neuromuscular junction and is propagated back along axons towards motor neurons. Caspase-dependent pathways are well established as a cause of motor neuron death, and recent work in other disease models indicated a role for caspase 6 in axonal degeneration. Therefore we hypothesised that caspase 6 may be involved in motor neuron death in ALS. To investigate the role of caspase 6 in ALS we profiled protein levels of caspase-6 throughout disease progression in the ALS mouse model SOD1G93A; this did not reveal differences in caspase 6 levels during disease. To investigate the role of caspase 6 further we generated a colony with SOD1G93A transgenic mice lacking caspase 6. Analysis of the transgenic SOD1G93A; Casp6−/− revealed an exacerbated phenotype with motor dysfunction occurring earlier and a significantly shortened lifespan when compared to transgenic SOD1G93A; Casp6+/+ mice. Immunofluorescence analysis of the neuromuscular junction revealed no obvious difference between caspase 6+/+ and caspase 6−/− in non-transgenic mice, while the SOD1G93A transgenic mice showed severe degeneration compared to non-transgenic mice in both genotypes. Our data indicate that caspase-6 does not exacerbate ALS pathogenesis, but may have a protective role.