Oxidative stress and antioxidant enzyme upregulation in SOD1‐G93A mouse skeletal muscle

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is caused by motor neuron loss in the spinal cord, but the mechanisms responsible are not known. Ubiquitous transgenic overexpression of copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (SOD1) mutations causing familial ALS (SOD1mut) leads to an ALS phenotype in mice; however, restricted expression of SOD1mut in neurons alone is not sufficient to cause this phenotype, suggesting that non-neuronal SOD1mut expression is also required for disease manifestation. Recently, several investigators have suggested that SOD1mut -mediated oxidative stress in skeletal muscle may contribute to ALS pathogenesis. The purpose of this study was to examine oxidative stress and antioxidant enzyme adaptation in 95-day-old SOD1-G93A skeletal muscle. We observed significant elevations in both malondialdehyde (22% and 31% in red and white gastrocnemius, respectively) and protein carbonyls (53% in red gastrocnemius) in SOD1-G93A mice. Copper/zinc SOD activity was higher in red and white SOD1-G93A gastrocnemius (7- and 10-fold, respectively), as was manganese SOD (4- and 5-fold, respectively) and catalase (2- and 2.5-fold, respectively). Taken together, our data demonstrate oxidative stress and compensatory antioxidant enzyme upregulation in SOD1-G93A skeletal muscle.