Brain Regions Showing White Matter Loss in Huntington's Disease Are Enriched for Synaptic and Metabolic Genes.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The earliest white matter changes in Huntington's disease are seen before disease onset in the premanifest stage around the striatum, within the corpus callosum, and in posterior white matter tracts. While experimental evidence suggests that these changes may be related to abnormal gene transcription, we lack an understanding of the biological processes driving this regional vulnerability.

Methods

Here, we investigate the relationship between regional transcription in the healthy brain, using the Allen Institute for Brain Science transcriptome atlas, and regional white matter connectivity loss at three time points over 24 months in subjects with premanifest Huntington's disease relative to control participants. The baseline cohort included 72 premanifest Huntingto

SUBMITTER: McColgan P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5803509 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature