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Quantitative Gait Analysis Using a Motorized Treadmill System Sensitively Detects Motor Abnormalities in Mice Expressing ATPase Defective Spastin.

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Peer-reviewed

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Article

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Authors

Connell, James W 
Allison, Rachel 

Abstract

The hereditary spastic paraplegias (HSPs) are genetic conditions in which there is progressive axonal degeneration in the corticospinal tract. Autosomal dominant mutations, including nonsense, frameshift and missense changes, in the gene encoding the microtubule severing ATPase spastin are the most common cause of HSP in North America and northern Europe. In this study we report quantitative gait analysis using a motorized treadmill system, carried out on mice knocked-in for a disease-associated mutation affecting a critical residue in the Walker A motif of the spastin ATPase domain. At 4 months and at one year of age homozygous mutant mice had a number of abnormal gait parameters, including in stride length and stride duration, compared to heterozygous and wild-type littermates. Gait parameters in heterozygous animals did not differ from wild-type littermates. We conclude that quantitative gait analysis using the DigiGait system sensitively detects motor abnormalities in a hereditary spastic paraplegia model, and would be a useful method for analyzing the effects of pharmacological treatments for HSP.

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Keywords

Adenosine Triphosphatases, Analysis of Variance, Animals, Axons, Cells, Cultured, Disease Models, Animal, Female, Gait, Gene Knock-In Techniques, Genotype, Heterozygote, Homozygote, Male, Mice, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Microscopy, Fluorescence, Mutation, Neurons, Phenotype, Spastic Paraplegia, Hereditary, Spastin

Journal Title

PLoS One

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1932-6203
1932-6203

Volume Title

11

Publisher

Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Sponsorship
Medical Research Council (MR/M00046X/1)
Wellcome Trust (082381/Z/07/Z)
Wellcome Trust (100140/Z/12/Z)
Wellcome Trust (093026/Z/10/Z)
This work was supported by a grant from the United Kingdom Medical Research Council [MR/M00046X/1] awarded to ER, a Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow in Clinical Science grant awarded to ER [082381], and a grant from the Tom Wahlig Stiftung. The Cambridge Institute for Medical Research is supported by a Wellcome Trust Strategic Award [100140] a Wellcome Trust equipment grant [093026]. The Digigait equipment was purchased with support from the Marmaduke Shield Fund, University of Cambridge. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.