Evidence map›Paper›PMID 16928866›Full record

ArticleThe Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience2006

Complete dissociation of motor neuron death from motor dysfunction by Bax deletion in a mouse model of ALS.

Thomas W Gould, Robert R Buss, Sharon Vinsant, David Prevette, Woong Sun, C Michael Knudson, Carol E Milligan, Ronald W Oppenheim

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 193 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
193citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
18.7field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

193 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 386 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Article
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  5. Peripheral Neuropathy in Metabolic Stress.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026
    Review
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  9. Muscle-Derived BMP4 Regulates Morphology and Function of Endplates on Extrafusal and Intrafusal Muscle Fibers in Adult Mice.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026
    Article
  10. The Neuromuscular Junction: A Shared Vulnerability in Aging and Disease.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2025
    Review
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133 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Thomas W GouldDepartment of Neurobiology and Anatomy and Program in Neuroscience, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157-1010, USA.
Robert R Buss
Sharon Vinsant
David Prevette
Woong Sun
C Michael Knudson
Carol E Milligan
Ronald W Oppenheim
Wake Forest University · USKorea University · KRUniversity of Iowa · US

Funding

Motor System Development in the Absence of Cell DeathR01NS048982 · NINDS · WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · PI OPPENHEIM, RONALD W · 2004 to 2007
$1.4M
NINDS NIH HHS NS048982NINDS NIH HHS NS368081NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS048982
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The death of cranial and spinal motoneurons (MNs) is believed to be an essential component of the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We tested this hypothesis by crossing Bax-deficient mice with mice expressing mutant superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1), a transgenic model of familial ALS. Although Bax deletion failed to prevent neuromuscular denervation and mitochondrial vacuolization, MNs were completely rescued from mutant SOD1-mediated death. However, Bax deficiency extended lifespan and delayed the onset of motor dysfunction of SOD1 mutants, suggesting that Bax acts via a mechanism distinct from cell death activation. Consistent with this idea, Bax elimination delayed the onset of neuromuscular denervation, which began long before the activation of cell death proteins in SOD1 mutants. Additionally, we show that denervation preceded accumulation of mutant SOD1 within MNs and astrogliosis in the spinal cord, which are also both delayed in Bax-deficient SOD1 mutants. Interestingly, MNs exhibited mitochondrial abnormalities at the innervated neuromuscular junction at the onset of neuromuscular denervation. Additionally, both MN presynaptic terminals and terminal Schwann cells expressed high levels of mutant SOD1 before MNs withdrew their axons. Together, these data support the idea that clinical symptoms in the SOD1 G93A model of ALS result specifically from damage to the distal motor axon and not from activation of the death pathway, and cast doubt on the utility of anti-apoptotic therapies to combat ALS. Furthermore, they suggest a novel, cell death-independent role for Bax in facilitating mutant SOD1-mediated motor denervation.

Indexed as

Gene DeletionMotor NeuronsMovementMutationAmyotrophic Lateral SclerosisAnimalsAxonsbcl-2-Associated X ProteinCell DeathCell SurvivalDemyelinating DiseasesDenervationGliosisMiceMice, TransgenicMitochondriabcl-2-Associated X ProteinSod1 protein, mouseSuperoxide DismutaseSuperoxide Dismutase-1

Identifiers

PMID16928866
PMCPMC6674380
OpenAlexW2092312715

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.