Introducing an Expanded Trinucleotide Repeat Tract into the Human Genome for Huntington's Disease Modeling In Vitro

2020 ◽  
Vol 106 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuyana Malankhanova ◽  
Michael Sorokin ◽  
Sergey Medvedev ◽  
Suren Zakian ◽  
Anastasia Malakhova
Keyword(s):  
Huntington's Disease ◽  
Huntington’S Disease ◽  
Human Genome ◽  
Disease Modeling ◽  
Trinucleotide Repeat ◽  
Repeat Tract

scholarly journals RNA Sequencing of Human Peripheral Blood Cells Indicates Upregulation of Immune-Related Genes in Huntington's Disease

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel A. Andrade-Navarro ◽  
Katja Mühlenberg ◽  
Eike J. Spruth ◽  
Nancy Mah ◽  
Adrián González-López ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Huntington's Disease ◽  
Huntington’S Disease ◽  
Peripheral Blood ◽  
Blood Cells ◽  
Trinucleotide Repeat ◽  
Neurodegenerative Disorder ◽  
Gene Expression Signature ◽  
Interferon Response ◽  
Peripheral Blood Cells

Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominantly inherited neurodegenerative disorder caused by a trinucleotide repeat expansion in the Huntingtin gene. As disease-modifying therapies for HD are being developed, peripheral blood cells may be used to indicate disease progression and to monitor treatment response. In order to investigate whether gene expression changes can be found in the blood of individuals with HD that distinguish them from healthy controls, we performed transcriptome analysis by next-generation sequencing (RNA-seq). We detected a gene expression signature consistent with dysregulation of immune-related functions and inflammatory response in peripheral blood from HD cases vs. controls, including induction of the interferon response genes, IFITM3, IFI6 and IRF7. Our results suggest that it is possible to detect gene expression changes in blood samples from individuals with HD, which may reflect the immune pathology associated with the disease.

B01 In vitro study of neurodevelopment in huntington’s disease

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phil Sanders ◽  
Waseem Abbas ◽  
Anna Esteve-Codina ◽  
Gustavo Rodriguez-Esteban ◽  
Georgina Bombau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Huntington's Disease ◽  
Huntington’S Disease ◽  
In Vitro Study ◽  
Vitro Study

scholarly journals Esculetin Provides Neuroprotection against Mutant Huntingtin-Induced Toxicity in Huntington’s Disease Models

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 1044
Author(s):  
Letizia Pruccoli ◽  
Carlo Breda ◽  
Gabriella Teti ◽  
Mirella Falconi ◽  
Flaviano Giorgini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Huntington's Disease ◽  
Huntington’S Disease ◽  
Neuronal Death ◽  
Trinucleotide Repeat ◽  
Neurodegenerative Disorder ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Neuroprotective Effects ◽  
Drosophila Model ◽  
Exon 1 ◽  
Transgenic Drosophila

Huntington’s disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by an abnormal CAG trinucleotide repeat expansion within exon 1 of the huntingtin (HTT) gene. This mutation leads to the production of mutant HTT (mHTT) protein which triggers neuronal death through several mechanisms. Here, we investigated the neuroprotective effects of esculetin (ESC), a bioactive phenolic compound, in an inducible PC12 model and a transgenic Drosophila melanogaster model of HD, both of which express mHTT fragments. ESC partially inhibited the progression of mHTT aggregation and reduced neuronal death through its ability to counteract the oxidative stress and mitochondria impairment elicited by mHTT in the PC12 model. The ability of ESC to counteract neuronal death was also confirmed in the transgenic Drosophila model. Although ESC did not modify the lifespan of the transgenic Drosophila, it still seemed to have a positive impact on the HD phenotype of this model. Based on our findings, ESC may be further studied as a potential neuroprotective agent in a rodent transgenic model of HD.

scholarly journals Non-Cell Autonomous and Epigenetic Mechanisms of Huntington’s Disease

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (22) ◽  
pp. 12499
Author(s):  
Chaebin Kim ◽  
Ali Yousefian-Jazi ◽  
Seung-Hye Choi ◽  
Inyoung Chang ◽  
Junghee Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Huntington's Disease ◽  
Huntington’S Disease ◽  
Trinucleotide Repeat ◽  
Neurodegenerative Disorder ◽  
Involuntary Movement ◽  
Therapeutic Approaches ◽  
Exon 1 ◽  
Human Chromosome 4 ◽  
The Brain

Huntington’s disease (HD) is a rare neurodegenerative disorder caused by an expansion of CAG trinucleotide repeat located in the exon 1 of Huntingtin (HTT) gene in human chromosome 4. The HTT protein is ubiquitously expressed in the brain. Specifically, mutant HTT (mHTT) protein-mediated toxicity leads to a dramatic degeneration of the striatum among many regions of the brain. HD symptoms exhibit a major involuntary movement followed by cognitive and psychiatric dysfunctions. In this review, we address the conventional role of wild type HTT (wtHTT) and how mHTT protein disrupts the function of medium spiny neurons (MSNs). We also discuss how mHTT modulates epigenetic modifications and transcriptional pathways in MSNs. In addition, we define how non-cell autonomous pathways lead to damage and death of MSNs under HD pathological conditions. Lastly, we overview therapeutic approaches for HD. Together, understanding of precise neuropathological mechanisms of HD may improve therapeutic approaches to treat the onset and progression of HD.

scholarly journals Recent Overview of the Use of iPSCs Huntington’s Disease Modeling and Therapy

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 2239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Csobonyeiova ◽  
Stefan Polak ◽  
Lubos Danisovic
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Stem Cell ◽  
Huntington's Disease ◽  
Huntington’S Disease ◽  
Disease Modeling ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Cag Repeats ◽  
Neural Cells ◽  
Behavioral Impairment ◽  
Cell Based Therapy

Huntington’s disease (HD) is an inherited, autosomal dominant, degenerative disease characterized by involuntary movements, cognitive decline, and behavioral impairment ending in death. HD is caused by an expansion in the number of CAG repeats in the huntingtin gene on chromosome 4. To date, no effective therapy for preventing the onset or progression of the disease has been found, and many symptoms do not respond to pharmacologic treatment. However, recent results of pre-clinical trials suggest a beneficial effect of stem-cell-based therapy. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) represent an unlimited cell source and are the most suitable among the various types of autologous stem cells due to their patient specificity and ability to differentiate into a variety of cell types both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, the cultivation of iPSC-derived neural cells offers the possibility of studying the etiopathology of neurodegenerative diseases, such as HD. Moreover, differentiated neural cells can organize into three-dimensional (3D) organoids, mimicking the complex architecture of the brain. In this article, we present a comprehensive review of recent HD models, the methods for differentiating HD–iPSCs into the desired neural cell types, and the progress in gene editing techniques leading toward stem-cell-based therapy.

scholarly journals Cerebral dopamine neurotrophic factor (CDNF) protects against quinolinic acid-induced toxicity in in vitro and in vivo models of Huntington’s disease

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Stepanova ◽  
V. Srinivasan ◽  
D. Lindholm ◽  
M. H. Voutilainen
Keyword(s):  
Huntington's Disease ◽  
Huntington’S Disease ◽  
Quinolinic Acid ◽  
Neurotrophic Factor ◽  
Striatal Neurons ◽  
In Vivo Models ◽  
Cerebral Dopamine Neurotrophic Factor ◽  
Cerebral Dopamine

Abstract Huntington’s disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder with a progressive loss of medium spiny neurons in the striatum and aggregation of mutant huntingtin in the striatal and cortical neurons. Currently, there are no rational therapies for the treatment of the disease. Cerebral dopamine neurotrophic factor (CDNF) is an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) located protein with neurotrophic factor (NTF) properties, protecting and restoring the function of dopaminergic neurons in animal models of PD more effectively than other NTFs. CDNF is currently in phase I–II clinical trials on PD patients. Here we have studied whether CDNF has beneficial effects on striatal neurons in in vitro and in vivo models of HD. CDNF was able to protect striatal neurons from quinolinic acid (QA)-induced cell death in vitro via increasing the IRE1α/XBP1 signalling pathway in the ER. A single intrastriatal CDNF injection protected against the deleterious effects of QA in a rat model of HD. CDNF improved motor coordination and decreased ataxia in QA-toxin treated rats, and stimulated the neurogenesis by increasing doublecortin (DCX)-positive and NeuN-positive cells in the striatum. These results show that CDNF positively affects striatal neuron viability reduced by QA and signifies CDNF as a promising drug candidate for the treatment of HD.

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