Fabry disease is a glycosphingolipid storage disorder that is caused by a
genetic deficiency of the enzyme alpha-galactosidase A (AGA, EC 3.2.1.22). It is
a multisystem disease that affects the vascular, cardiac, renal, and nervous
systems. One of the hallmarks of this disorder is neuropathic pain and
sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous dysfunction. The exact mechanism by
which changes in AGA activity result in change in neuronal function is not
clear, partly due to of a lack of relevant model systems. In this study, we
report the development of an in vitro model system to study
neuronal dysfunction in Fabry disease by using short-hairpin RNA to create a
stable knock-down of AGA in the human cholinergic neuronal cell line, LA-N-2. We
show that gene-silenced cells show specifically reduced AGA activity and store
globotriaosylceramide. In gene-silenced cells, release of the neurotransmitter
acetylcholine is significantly reduced, demonstrating that this model may be
used to study specific neuronal functions such as neurotransmitter release in
Fabry disease.