Characterization, developmental expression and evolutionary features of the huntingtin gene in the amphioxus Branchiostoma floridae.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Huntington's disease is an inherited neurodegenerative disorder that is caused by the expansion of an N-terminal polyQ stretch in the huntingtin protein. In order to investigate the hypothesis that huntingtin was already involved in development of the nervous system in the last common ancestor of chordates, we isolated and characterised the huntingtin homologue from the amphioxus Branchiostoma floridae. In the present paper the amphioxus general term must be referred to Branchiostoma floridae.

Results

In this report, we show that the exon-intron organization of the amphioxus huntingtin gene is highly conserved with that of other vertebrates species. The AmphiHtt protein has two glutamine residues in the position of the typical vertebrate polyQ tract. Sequence cons

SUBMITTER: Candiani S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2206037 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature