VEGF reduces astrogliosis and preserves neuromuscular junctions in ALS transgenic mice

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease resulting from motor neuron loss in the spinal cord and brain stem. In the present study, we found that systemic administration of recombinant vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) significantly diminished astrogliosis and increased the number of neuromuscular junctions in a Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) transgenic mouse model of ALS. Our results thus demonstrate a novel regulatory role of VEGF on astrocytes and are suggestive of protective effects of VEGF both in the peripheral and central nervous system in the SOD1 transgenic mouse model. These findings warrant further evaluation of the mechanism(s) of regulatory effects of VEGF on neuronal and non-neuronal cells, and the relation of these events to motor neuron degeneration and the onset and progression of ALS.