Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound modulates disease progression in the SOD1G93A mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease characterized by the progressive loss of motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord, and there are no effective drug treatments. Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) has garnered attention as a promising noninvasive neuromodulation method. In this study, we investigate its effects on the motor cortex and underlying mechanisms using the SOD1<sup>G93A</sup> mouse model of ALS. Our results show that LIPUS treatment delays disease onset and prolongs lifespan in ALS mice. LIPUS significantly increases cerebral blood flow in the motor cortex by preserving vascular endothelial cell integrity and increasing microvascular density, which may be mediated via the ion channel TRPV4. RNA sequencing analysis reveals that LIPUS substantially reduces the expression of genes associated with neuroinflammation. These findings suggest that LIPUS applied to the motor cortex may represent a potentially effective therapeutic tool for the treatment of ALS.
Authors
- Xiaojun Cai
- Zhouwei Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5735-9987)
- Garth J. Thompson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1125-0799)
- Junfeng Sun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7614-7127)
- Xiaojie Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7498-0983)
- Li Hua Cao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1742-9877)
- Qi Ouyang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9122-420X)
- Hongsheng Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4888-7021)
- Ni Su
- Yueqi Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1189-2118)
- Kaili Lu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0440-3048)
- Zihao Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4685-2228)
- Huan Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-1420-0154)
- Yuwu Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5847-7715)
- Yuanyi Zheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1328-0641)
- Yi Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6197-1527)
- Mengyang Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1346-1191)
- Lixian Jiang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4165-8549)
- Li Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7268-1157)
Institutions
- East China University of Science and Technology (CN)
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CN)
- Shanghai Innovative Research Center of Traditional Chinese Medicine (CN)
- ShanghaiTech University (CN)
- Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Cell Reports
- Published
- 2024-08-23
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114660
- Citations
- 18
- Primary Topic
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 6.64
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University
- School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University