Abstract
Significance: The remarkable geometry of the axon exposes it to unique challenges for survival and maintenance. Axonal degeneration is a feature of peripheral neuropathies, glaucoma, and traumatic brain injury, and an early event in neurodegenerative diseases. Since the discovery of Wallerian degeneration (WD), a molecular program that hijacks nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD(+)) metabolism for axonal self-destruction, the complex roles of NAD(+) in axonal viability and disease have become research priority. Recent Advances: The discoveries of the protective Wallerian degeneration slow (Wld(S)) and of sterile alpha and TIR motif containing 1 (SARM1) activation as the main instructive signal for WD have shed new light on the regulatory role of NAD(+) in axonal degeneration in a growing number of neurological diseases. SARM1 has been characterized as a NAD(+) hydrolase and sensor of NAD(+) metabolism. The discovery of regulators of nicotinamide mononucleotide adenylyltransferase 2 (NMNAT2) proteostasis in axons, the allosteric regulation of SARM1 by NAD(+) and NMN, and the existence of clinically relevant windows of action of these signals has opened new opportunities for therapeutic interventions, including SARM1 inhibitors and modulators of NAD(+) metabolism. Critical Issues: Events upstream and downstream of SARM1 remain unclear. Furthermore, manipulating NAD(+) metabolism, an overdetermined process crucial in cell survival, for preventing the degeneration of the injured axon may be difficult and potentially toxic. Future Directions: There is a need for clarification of the distinct roles of NAD(+) metabolism in axonal maintenance as contrasted to WD. There is also a need to better understand the role of NAD(+) metabolism in axonal endangerment in neuropathies, diseases of the white matter, and the early stages of neurodegenerative diseases of the central nervous system. Antioxid. Redox Signal. 39, 1167-1184.