Therapeutic Strategies and Metal-Induced Oxidative Stress: Application of Synchrotron Radiation Microbeam to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in the Kii Peninsula of Japan

A series of extensive gene-environment studies on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinsonism–dementia complex (PDC) in Guam Island, USA, and the Kii Peninsula of Japan, including Auyu Jakai, West New Guinea, have led us to hypothesize that a prolonged low calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) intake, especially over generation, may cause oxidative stress to motor and nigral neurons by an increased uptake of environment metallic elements, i.e., aluminum (Al), manganese (Mn), and iron (Fe). Otherwise, 5–10% of total ALS cases are familial ALS (fALS), of which 20% of the fALS cases linked to a point mutation of Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1). In the vicinity of the Kii Peninsula, about 7% of the ALS cases are also linked to the SOD1 mutation. Using synchrotron radiation (SR) microbeam, conglomerate inclusion (SOD1 aggregates) within a spinal motor neuron of the fALS case in the vicinity revealed a loss of copper (Cu) in contrast to extremely high contents of Zinc (Zn) and Ca. That means an exceptionally low Cu/Zn ratio with an increased Ca content, indicating the abnormalities of the active site of SOD1 protein of the fALS. Furthermore, sALS in the southernmost high incidence areas of the Kii Peninsula showed a low Cu/Zn ratio within a motor neuron, suggesting a fragility of SOD1 proteins. From the perspective of gene–environment interactions, the above two research trends may show a common oxidative stress underlying the neuronal degenerative process of ALS/PDC in the Kii Peninsula of Japan. Therefore, it is a crucial point for the prospect of therapeutic strategy to clarify a role of transition metals in the oxidative process in both ALS/PDC, including ALS elsewhere in the world. This paper reviews a history of the genetic epidemiological studies, especially from the aspect of gene–environment interaction, on ALS/PDC in the Kii and Guam high incidence foci and the results of a series of analytical research on trace metallic elements within neurons of both sALS and fALS cases, especially using a synchrotron radiation (SR) microbeam of Spring-8 and Photon Factory of Japan. The SR microbeam is an ideal X-ray source, which supplies an extremely high brilliance (high-intensity photon) and tunability (energy variability) to investigate trace metallic elements contained in biological specimens at the cellular level, even more without any damages. This research will provide a valuable information about the mechanism of oxidative stress involved in neuronal cell death in ALS and related neurodegenerative disorders. To elucidate the physicochemical mechanism of the oxidative process in neuronal degeneration, it will shed a new light on the therapeutic strategies for ALS/PDC in near future.