Abstract
In the intermediate stages of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), surviving motor neurons (MNs) that show intrinsic resistance to TDP-43 proteinopathy can partially compensate for the loss of their more disease-susceptible counterparts. Elucidating the mechanisms of this compensation may reveal approaches for attenuating motor impairment in ALS patients. In the rNLS8 mouse model of ALS-like pathology driven by doxycycline-regulated neuronal expression of human TDP-43 lacking a nuclear localization signal (hTDP-43ΔNLS), slow MNs are more resistant to disease than fast-fatigable (FF) MNs and can mediate recovery following transgene suppression. In the present study, we used a viral tracing strategy to show that these disease-resistant slow MNs sprout to reinnervate motor endplates of adjacent muscle fibers vacated by degenerated FF MNs. Moreover, we found that neuromuscular junctions within fast-twitch skeletal muscle (tibialis anterior, TA) reinnervated by SK3-positive slow MNs acquire resistance to axonal dieback when challenged with a second course of hTDP-43ΔNLS pathology. The selective resistance of reinnervated neuromuscular junctions was specifically induced by the unique pattern of reinnervation following TDP-43-induced neurodegeneration, as recovery from unilateral sciatic nerve crush did not produce motor units resistant to subsequent hTDP-43ΔNLS. Using cross-reinnervation and self-reinnervation surgery in which motor axons are disconnected from their target muscle and reconnected to a new muscle, we show that FF MNs remain hTDP-43ΔNLS-susceptible and slow MNs remain resistant, regardless of which muscle fibers they control. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that MN identity dictates the susceptibility of neuromuscular junctions to TDP-43 pathology and slow MNs can drive recovery of motor systems due to their remarkable resilience to TDP-43-driven degeneration. This study highlights a potential pathway for regaining motor function with ALS pathology in the advent of therapies that halt the underlying neurodegenerative process.