Assessing Autophagy in Sciatic Nerves of a Rat Model that Develops Inflammatory Autoimmune Peripheral Neuropathies

The rat sciatic nerve has attracted widespread attention as an excellent model system for studying autophagy alterations in peripheral neuropathies. In our laboratory, we have developed an original rat model, which we used currently in routine novel drug screening and to evaluate treatment strategies for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) and other closely related diseases. Lewis rats injected with the S-palmitoylated P0(180-199) peptide develop a chronic, sometimes relapsing-remitting type of disease. Our model fulfills electrophysiological criteria of demyelination with axonal degeneration, confirmed by immunohistopathology and several typical features of CIDP. We have set up a series of techniques that led us to examine the failures of autophagy pathways in the sciatic nerve of these model rats and to follow the possible improvement of these defects after treatment. Based on these newly introduced methods, a novel area of investigation is now open and will allow us to more thoroughly examine important features of certain autophagy pathways occurring in sciatic nerves.