Cell specific features of motor neurones predisposing to neurodegeneration
| • Cell size and axonal length |
| • High metabolic rate |
| • ? Specific features of motor neurone mitochondria |
| • Cytoskeleton, neurofilament content and reliance on efficient intracellular transport system |
| • Characteristic profile of cell surface glutamate receptors, with high relative expression of calcium permeable AMPA receptors, lacking the GluR2 subunit |
| • High expression of glutamate transporters in the vicinity of vulnerable motor neurone groups |
| • Low expression of specific calcium binding proteins |
| • High expression of SOD1 protein |
| • High threshold for mounting a heat shock response/upregulation of chaperone proteins |