scholarly journals Alterations of Calcium Channels in a Mouse Model of Huntington’s Disease and Neuroprotection by Blockage of CaV1 Channels

ASN NEURO ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 175909141985681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Artur S. Miranda ◽  
Pablo Leal Cardozo ◽  
Flavia R. Silva ◽  
Jessica M. de Souza ◽  
Isabella G. Olmo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mouse Model ◽  
Huntington's Disease ◽  
Huntington’S Disease ◽  
Cortical Neurons ◽  
Involuntary Movement ◽  
Neuronal Cell ◽  
The Body ◽  
Glutamate Toxicity ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Vitro Assay

Huntington’s disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative autosomal dominant disorder, characterized by symptoms of involuntary movement of the body, loss of cognitive function, psychiatric disorder, leading inevitably to death. It has been previously described that higher levels of brain expression of Cav1 channels are involved in major neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Our results demonstrate that a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC)-mediated transgenic mouse model (BACHD mice) at the age of 3 and 12 months exhibits significantly increased Cav1.2 protein levels in the cortex, as compared with wild-type littermates. Importantly, electrophysiological analyses confirm a significant increase in L-type Ca2+ currents and total Ca2+ current density in cortical neurons from BACHD mice. By using an in vitro assay to measure neuronal cell death, we were able to observe neuronal protection against glutamate toxicity after treatment with Cav1 blockers, in wild-type and, more importantly, in BACHD neurons. According to our data, Cav1 blockers may offer an interesting strategy for the treatment of HD. Altogether, our results show that mutant huntingtin (mHtt) expression may cause a dysregulation of Cav1.2 channels and we hypothesize that this contributes to neurodegeneration during HD.

scholarly journals Targeted Genetic Reduction of Mutant Huntingtin Lessens Cardiac Pathology in the BACHD Mouse Model of Huntington's Disease

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saemi Park ◽  
Shu Hon Christopher Luk ◽  
Raj S. Bains ◽  
Daniel S. Whittaker ◽  
Emily Chiem ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mouse Model ◽  
Huntington's Disease ◽  
Huntington’S Disease ◽  
Treatment Strategies ◽  
The Body ◽  
Activity Levels ◽  
Protein Levels ◽  
Pathological Cardiac Hypertrophy ◽  
Expression Of Genes ◽  
Wide Range

Individuals affected by Huntington's disease (HD) present with progressive degeneration that results in a wide range of symptoms, including cardiovascular (CV) dysfunction. The huntingtin gene (HTT) and its product are ubiquitously expressed, hence, the cardiomyopathy could also be driven by defects caused by its mutated form (mHTT) in the cardiomyocytes themselves. In the present study, we sought to determine the contribution of the mHTT expressed in the cardiomyocytes to CV symptoms. We utilized the BACHD mouse model, which exhibits many of the HD core symptoms, including CV dysfunction. This model allows the targeted genetic reduction of mHTT expression in the cardiomyocytes while maintaining the expression of the mHTT in the rest of the body. The BACHD line was crossed with a line of mice in which the expression of Cre recombinase is driven by the cardiac-specific alpha myosin-heavy chain (Myh6) promoter. The offspring of this cross (BMYO mice) exhibited a dramatic reduction in mHTT in the heart but not in the striatum. The BMYO mice were evaluated at 6 months old, as at this age, the BACHD line displays a strong CV phenotype. Echocardiogram measurements found improvement in the ejection fraction in the BMYO line compared to the BACHD, while hypertrophy was observed in both mutant lines. Next, we examined the expression of genes known to be upregulated during pathological cardiac hypertrophy. As measured by qPCR, the BMYO hearts exhibited significantly less expression of collagen1a as well as Gata4, and brain natriuretic peptide compared to the BACHD. Fibrosis in the hearts assessed by Masson's trichrome stain and the protein levels of fibronectin were reduced in the BMYO hearts compared to BACHD. Finally, we examined the performance of the mice on CV-sensitive motor tasks. Both the overall activity levels and grip strength were improved in the BMYO mice. Therefore, we conclude that the reduction of mHtt expression in the heart benefits CV function in the BACHD model, and suggest that cardiomyopathy should be considered in the treatment strategies for HD.

scholarly journals Global Rhes knockout in the Q175 Huntington’s disease mouse model

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (10) ◽  
pp. e0258486
Author(s):  
Taneli Heikkinen ◽  
Timo Bragge ◽  
Juha Kuosmanen ◽  
Teija Parkkari ◽  
Sanna Gustafsson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mouse Model ◽  
Huntington's Disease ◽  
Huntington’S Disease ◽  
The Body ◽  
Mutant Huntingtin ◽  
Polyglutamine Tract ◽  
Severe Pathology ◽  
Expansion Mutation ◽  
Q175 Mice ◽  
Mixed Gender

Huntington’s disease (HD) results from an expansion mutation in the polyglutamine tract in huntingtin. Although huntingtin is ubiquitously expressed in the body, the striatum suffers the most severe pathology. Rhes is a Ras-related small GTP-binding protein highly expressed in the striatum that has been reported to modulate mTOR and sumoylation of mutant huntingtin to alter HD mouse model pathogenesis. Reports have varied on whether Rhes reduction is desirable for HD. Here we characterize multiple behavioral and molecular endpoints in the Q175 HD mouse model with genetic Rhes knockout (KO). Genetic RhesKO in the Q175 female mouse resulted in both subtle attenuation of Q175 phenotypic features, and detrimental effects on other kinematic features. The Q175 females exhibited measurable pathogenic deficits, as measured by MRI, MRS and DARPP32, however, RhesKO had no effect on these readouts. Additionally, RhesKO in Q175 mixed gender mice deficits did not affect mTOR signaling, autophagy or mutant huntingtin levels. We conclude that global RhesKO does not substantially ameliorate or exacerbate HD mouse phenotypes in Q175 mice.

scholarly journals Huntington's disease genotype suppresses global manganese-responsive processes in pre-manifest and manifest YAC128 mice

Metallomics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 1118-1130
Author(s):  
Anna C. Pfalzer ◽  
Jordyn M. Wilcox ◽  
Simona G. Codreanu ◽  
Melissa Totten ◽  
Terry J. V. Bichell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mouse Model ◽  
Huntington's Disease ◽  
Huntington’S Disease ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Yac128 Mouse

Global manganese-responsive processes are suppressed in the YAC128 mouse model of Huntington's Disease (HD) compared to wild type (WT).

scholarly journals Decreased BDNF Release in Cortical Neurons of a Knock-in Mouse Model of Huntington’s Disease

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chenglong Yu ◽  
Chun Hei Li ◽  
Sidong Chen ◽  
Hanna Yoo ◽  
Xianan Qin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mouse Model ◽  
Huntington's Disease ◽  
Huntington’S Disease ◽  
Cortical Neurons

scholarly journals Real-Time Three-Dimensional Tracking of Single Vesicles Reveals the Abnormal Motion and Vesicle Pools of Synaptic Vesicles in Neurons of Huntington’s Disease Mice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sidong Chen ◽  
Hanna Yoo ◽  
Chun Hei Li ◽  
Chungwon Park ◽  
Li Yang Tan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neurodegenerative Diseases ◽  
Huntington's Disease ◽  
Huntington’S Disease ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Cortical Neurons ◽  
Synaptic Vesicles ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Radius Of Gyration ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Vesicle Pools

SummaryAlthough defective synaptic transmission was suggested to play a role in neurodegenerative diseases, the dynamics and vesicle pools of synaptic vesicles during neurodegeneration remain elusive. Here, we performed real-time three-dimensional tracking of single synaptic vesicles in cortical neurons from a mouse model of Huntington’s disease (HD). Vesicles in HD neurons had a larger net displacement and radius of gyration compared with wild-type neurons. Vesicles with a high release probability (Pr) were interspersed with low-Pr vesicles in HD neurons, whereas high-Pr and low-Pr vesicle pools were spatially separated in wild-type neurons. Non-releasing vesicles in HD neurons had an abnormally high prevalence of irregular oscillatory motion. These abnormal dynamics and vesicle pools were rescued by overexpressing Rab11, and the abnormal irregular motion was rescued by jasplakinolide. These results suggest the abnormal dynamics and vesicle pools of synaptic vesicles in the early stages of HD, suggesting a possible pathogenic mechanism of neurodegenerative diseases.

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