Dietrich Paula, Johnson Irudayam Maria, Alli Shanta, Dragatsis Ioannis
Department of Physiology, The University of Tennessee, Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee, United States of America.
PLoS Genet. 2017 Jul 17;13(7):e1006846. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1006846. eCollection 2017 Jul.
Huntington's Disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by cognitive, behavioral and motor dysfunctions. HD is caused by a CAG repeat expansion in exon 1 of the HD gene that is translated into an expanded polyglutamine tract in the encoded protein, huntingtin (HTT). While the most significant neuropathology of HD occurs in the striatum, other brain regions are also affected and play an important role in HD pathology. To date there is no cure for HD, and recently strategies aiming at silencing HTT expression have been initiated as possible therapeutics for HD. However, the essential functions of HTT in the adult brain are currently unknown and hence the consequence of sustained suppression of HTT expression is unpredictable and can potentially be deleterious. Using the Cre-loxP system of recombination, we conditionally inactivated the mouse HD gene homologue at 3, 6 and 9 months of age. Here we show that elimination of Htt expression in the adult mouse results in behavioral deficits, progressive neuropathological changes including bilateral thalamic calcification, and altered brain iron homeostasis.
亨廷顿舞蹈症(HD)是一种常染色体显性进行性神经退行性疾病,其特征为认知、行为和运动功能障碍。HD由HD基因外显子1中的CAG重复序列扩增引起,该扩增序列在编码蛋白亨廷素(HTT)中被翻译为扩展的多聚谷氨酰胺序列。虽然HD最显著的神经病理学变化发生在纹状体,但其他脑区也会受到影响,并在HD病理学中发挥重要作用。迄今为止,HD尚无治愈方法,最近已开始采用旨在沉默HTT表达的策略作为HD的潜在治疗方法。然而,HTT在成人大脑中的基本功能目前尚不清楚,因此持续抑制HTT表达的后果不可预测,且可能具有有害性。利用Cre-loxP重组系统,我们在3、6和9月龄时条件性地使小鼠HD基因同源物失活。在此我们表明,成年小鼠中Htt表达的消除会导致行为缺陷、包括双侧丘脑钙化在内的进行性神经病理学变化以及脑铁稳态改变。