A failure in energy metabolism and antioxidant uptake precede symptoms of Huntington's disease in mice.

ABSTRACT: Huntington's disease has been associated with a failure in energy metabolism and oxidative damage. Ascorbic acid is a powerful antioxidant highly concentrated in the brain where it acts as a messenger, modulating neuronal metabolism. Using an electrophysiological approach in R6/2 HD slices, we observe an abnormal ascorbic acid flux from astrocytes to neurons, which is responsible for alterations in neuronal metabolic substrate preferences. Here using striatal neurons derived from knock-in mice expressing mutant huntingtin (STHdhQ cells), we study ascorbic acid transport. When extracellular ascorbic acid concentration increases, as occurs during synaptic activity, ascorbic acid transporter 2 (SVCT2) translocates to the plasma membrane, ensuring optimal ascorbic acid uptake for neurons. In c

SUBMITTER: Acuna AI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3905737 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature