Tanaka Motomasa, Ishizuka Koko, Nekooki-Machida Yoko, Endo Ryo, Takashima Noriko, Sasaki Hideyuki, Komi Yusuke, Gathercole Amy, Huston Elaine, Ishii Kazuhiro, Hui Kelvin Kai-Wan, Kurosawa Masaru, Kim Sun-Hong, Nukina Nobuyuki, Takimoto Eiki, Houslay Miles D, Sawa Akira
J Clin Invest. 2017 Apr 3;127(4):1438-1450. doi: 10.1172/JCI85594. Epub 2017 Mar 6.
Huntington's disease (HD) is a polyglutamine (polyQ) disease caused by aberrant expansion of the polyQ tract in Huntingtin (HTT). While motor impairment mediated by polyQ-expanded HTT has been intensively studied, molecular mechanisms for nonmotor symptoms in HD, such as psychiatric manifestations, remain elusive. Here we have demonstrated that HTT forms a ternary protein complex with the scaffolding protein DISC1 and cAMP-degrading phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) to regulate PDE4 activity. We observed pathological cross-seeding between DISC1 and mutant HTT aggregates in the brains of HD patients as well as in a murine model that recapitulates the polyQ pathology of HD (R6/2 mice). In R6/2 mice, consequent reductions in soluble DISC1 led to dysregulation of DISC1-PDE4 complexes, aberrantly increasing the activity of PDE4. Importantly, exogenous expression of a modified DISC1, which binds to PDE4 but not mutant HTT, normalized PDE4 activity and ameliorated anhedonia in the R6/2 mice. We propose that cross-seeding of mutant HTT and DISC1 and the resultant changes in PDE4 activity may underlie the pathology of a specific subset of mental manifestations of HD, which may provide an insight into molecular signaling in mental illness in general.
亨廷顿舞蹈症(HD)是一种多聚谷氨酰胺(polyQ)疾病,由亨廷顿蛋白(HTT)中多聚谷氨酰胺序列的异常扩增引起。虽然由多聚谷氨酰胺扩增的HTT介导的运动障碍已得到深入研究,但HD中非运动症状的分子机制,如精神症状,仍然难以捉摸。在这里,我们证明HTT与支架蛋白DISC1和降解cAMP的磷酸二酯酶4(PDE4)形成三元蛋白复合物,以调节PDE4活性。我们在HD患者的大脑以及重现HD多聚谷氨酰胺病理的小鼠模型(R6/2小鼠)中观察到DISC1与突变型HTT聚集体之间的病理性交叉播种。在R6/2小鼠中,可溶性DISC1的减少导致DISC1-PDE4复合物失调,异常增加PDE4的活性。重要的是,一种与PDE4结合但不与突变型HTT结合的修饰DISC1的外源表达使PDE4活性正常化,并改善了R6/2小鼠的快感缺失。我们提出,突变型HTT和DISC1的交叉播种以及由此导致的PDE4活性变化可能是HD特定精神症状病理学的基础,这可能为一般精神疾病中的分子信号传导提供见解。