Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39690843›Full record

ArticleHuman molecular genetics2025

Motor pool selectivity of neuromuscular degeneration in type I spinal muscular atrophy is conserved between human and mouse.

Justin C Lee, Wendy K Chung, David J Pisapia, Christopher E Henderson

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Human molecular genetics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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

11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
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  7. Review
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  9. Article
  10. Machine-Learning Classification of Motor Unit Types in the Adult Mouse.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Justin C LeeCenter for Motor Neuron Biology and Disease, Columbia University Medical Center, 630 W. 168th St., New York, NY 10032, United States.ORCID 0009-0008-3200-1020
Wendy K ChungDepartment of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA 02115, United States.
David J PisapiaDepartment of Pathology, Weill Cornell Medical Center, 520 E. 70th St., New York, NY 10021, United States.
Christopher E HendersonCenter for Motor Neuron Biology and Disease, Columbia University Medical Center, 630 W. 168th St., New York, NY 10032, United States.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is caused by low levels of the survival motor neuron (SMN) protein. Even though SMN is ubiquitously expressed, the disease selectively affects motor neurons, leading to progressive muscle weakness. Even among motor neurons, certain motor units appear more clinically resistant to SMA. To quantitatively survey selective resistance, we studied extensive neuromuscular autopsies of Type I SMA patients and age-matched controls. We found highly divergent degrees of degeneration of neighboring motor units, even within individual cranial nerves or a single anatomical area such as the neck. Examination of a Type I SMA patient maintained on life support for 17 years found that most muscles were atrophied, but the diaphragm was strikingly preserved. Nevertheless, some resistant human muscles with preserved morphology displayed nearly complete conversion to slow Type I myofibers. Remarkably, a similar pattern of selective resistance was observed in the SMNΔ7 mouse model. Overall, differential motor unit vulnerability in human Type I SMA suggests the existence of potent, motor unit-specific disease modifiers. Mechanisms that confer selective resistance to SMA may represent therapeutic targets independent of the SMN protein, particularly in patients with neuromuscular weakness refractory to current treatments.

Indexed as

Motor NeuronsSpinal Muscular Atrophies of ChildhoodAdultAnimalsDisease Models, AnimalFemaleHumansMaleMiceMuscle, SkeletalMuscular Atrophy, SpinalNeuromuscular JunctionSurvival of Motor Neuron 1 ProteinSurvival of Motor Neuron 1 Proteinmotor neuronmotor unitneurodegenerationneuromuscularspinal muscular atrophy

Identifiers

PMID39690843
PMCPMC11811418

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Registered trials

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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.