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Even though many studies have identified roles of proteasomes in axonal degeneration, the mo-lecular mechanisms by which axonal injury regulates proteasome activity are stil unclear. In the present study, we found evidence indicating that extracellular calcium influx is an upstream regula-tor of proteasome activity during axonal degeneration in injured peripheral nerves. In degenerating axons, the increase in proteasome activity and the degradation of ubiquitinated proteins were sig-nificantly suppressed by extracellular calcium chelation. In addition, electron microscopic findings revealed selective inhibition of neurofilament degradation, but not microtubule depolymerization or mitochondrial swel ing, by the inhibition of calpain and proteasomes. Taken together, our findings suggest that calcium increase and subsequent proteasome activation are an essential initiator of neurofilament degradation in Wal erian degeneration.
