Brain-Specific Cytoskeletal Damage Markers in Cerebrospinal Fluid: Is There a Common Pattern between Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis?

• Main Authors: Ahmed Abdelhak, Andreas Junker, Johannes Brettschneider, Jan Kassubek, Albert C. Ludolph, Markus Otto, Hayrettin Tumani
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2015-07-01
• Series: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Subjects: primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS); amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS); neurofilaments; biomarker; tau; tubulin
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/16/8/17565

Many neurodegenerative disorders share a common pathophysiological pathway involving axonal degeneration despite different etiological triggers. Analysis of cytoskeletal markers such as neurofilaments, protein tau and tubulin in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) may be a useful approach to detect the process of axonal damage and its severity during disease course. In this article, we review the published literature regarding brain-specific CSF markers for cytoskeletal damage in primary progressive multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in order to evaluate their utility as a biomarker for disease progression in conjunction with imaging and histological markers which might also be useful in other neurodegenerative diseases associated with affection of the upper motor neurons. A long-term benefit of such an approach could be facilitating early diagnostic and prognostic tools and assessment of treatment efficacy of disease modifying drugs.