Departments of Physiology, ‡Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles , Los Angeles, California 90095-1751, United States.
ACS Chem Neurosci. 2014 Jul 16;5(7):494-6. doi: 10.1021/cn500100r. Epub 2014 May 20.
In this Viewpoint, we summarize and discuss the recent serendipitous discovery of an astrocyte Kir4.1 potassium channel dysfunction in two mouse models of Huntington's disease (HD). Restoration of Kir4.1 channels within astrocytes in vivo attenuated neuronal dysfunction, some aspects of motor dysfunction and increased survival time in a HD mouse model. Overall, the data show that aspects of altered neuronal excitability associated with HD may be secondary to changes in astrocyte-mediated K(+) homeostasis, thereby revealing a new striatal neural microcircuit mechanism in HD, and Kir4.1 channels and astrocytes as potential therapeutic targets for drug development.
在本观点中,我们总结并讨论了最近在两种亨廷顿病(HD)小鼠模型中偶然发现的星形胶质细胞 Kir4.1 钾通道功能障碍。在体内恢复星形胶质细胞中的 Kir4.1 通道可减弱神经元功能障碍、运动功能障碍的某些方面,并延长 HD 小鼠模型的存活时间。总体而言,这些数据表明与 HD 相关的神经元兴奋性改变的某些方面可能是星形胶质细胞介导的 K(+)稳态改变的结果,从而揭示了 HD 中的新纹状体神经微电路机制,以及 Kir4.1 通道和星形胶质细胞作为药物开发的潜在治疗靶点。