Dataset Information

Dual FAN1 activities stabilize the HTT CAG repeat

ABSTRACT: Recent data strongly suggest HTT CAG repeat expansion drives Huntington’s disease (HD) pathogenesis and that disease development is modulated by components of the DNA damage response (DDR) pathway. FAN1 has been identified as a major HD modifier which slows expansion of the HTT CAG repeat in several cell and animal HD models. Here we show dual FAN1 activities act to inhibit repeat expansion. A highly conserved SPYF motif in the FAN1 N-terminus is required for an MLH1 interaction, which slows expansion, with FAN1 nuclease activity also contributing towards repeat stabilisation. Our data supports a model where FAN1 binds MLH1, restricting its recruitment by MSH3 and the formation of the functional DNA mismatch repair (MMR) complex believed to promote CAG repeat expansion. FAN1 nuclease activity functions either concurrently or following MMR activity to maintain repeat stability. These data highlight a potential avenue for HD therapeutics in attenuating somatic expansion.

INSTRUMENT(S): SYNAPT G2-Si

ORGANISM(S): Homo Sapiens (human)

TISSUE(S): Permanent Cell Line Cell

SUBMITTER: Thomas Menneteau

LAB HEAD: Konstantinos Thalassinos

PROVIDER: PXD023221 | Pride | 2022-02-16

REPOSITORIES: Pride

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Publications

FAN1 controls mismatch repair complex assembly via MLH1 retention to stabilize CAG repeat expansion in Huntington's disease.

Goold Robert R Hamilton Joseph J Menneteau Thomas T Flower Michael M Bunting Emma L EL Aldous Sarah G SG Porro Antonio A Vicente José R JR Allen Nicholas D ND Wilkinson Hilary H Bates Gillian P GP Sartori Alessandro A AA Thalassinos Konstantinos K Balmus Gabriel G Tabrizi Sarah J SJ

Cell reports 20210801 9

CAG repeat expansion in the HTT gene drives Huntington's disease (HD) pathogenesis and is modulated by DNA damage repair pathways. In this context, the interaction between FAN1, a DNA-structure-specific nuclease, and MLH1, member of the DNA mismatch repair pathway (MMR), is not defined. Here, we identify a highly conserved SPYF motif at the N terminus of FAN1 that binds to MLH1. Our data support a model where FAN1 has two distinct functions to stabilize CAG repeats. On one hand, it binds MLH1 to ...[more]

PMID: 34469738

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Project description:In Huntington’s disease (HD), expanded HTT CAG repeat length correlates strongly with age at motor onset, indicating that it determines the rate of the disease process leading to diagnostic clinical manifestations. Similarly, in normal individuals, HTT CAG repeat length is correlated with biochemical differences that reveal it as a functional polymorphism. Here, we tested the hypothesis that gene expression signatures can capture continuous, length-dependent effects of the HTT CAG repeat. Using gene expression datasets for 107 HD and control lymphoblastoid cell lines, we constructed mathematical models in an iterative manner, based upon CAG correlated gene expression patterns in randomly chosen training samples, and tested their predictive power in test samples. Predicted CAG repeat lengths were significantly correlated with experimentally determined CAG repeat lengths, whereas models based upon randomly permuted CAGs were not at all predictive. Predictions from different batches of mRNA for the same cell lines were significantly correlated, implying that CAG length-correlated gene expression is reproducible. Notably, HTT expression was not itself correlated with HTT CAG repeat length. Taken together, these findings confirm the concept of a gene expression signature representing the continuous effect of HTT CAG length and not primarily dependent on the level of huntingtin expression. Such global and unbiased approaches, applied to additional cell types and tissues, may facilitate the discovery of therapies for HD by providing a comprehensive view of molecular changes triggered by HTT CAG repeat length for use in screening for and testing compounds that reverse effects of the HTT CAG expansion. To evaluate the continuous analytical approach as a strategy to discover the molecular consequences of the HTT CAG repeat, genome-wide gene expression datasets were generated from a panel of 107 human lymphoblastoid cell lines with HTT CAGs spanning the entire spectrum of allele sizes.

Dataset Information

Dual FAN1 activities stabilize the HTT CAG repeat

Publications

FAN1 controls mismatch repair complex assembly via MLH1 retention to stabilize CAG repeat expansion in Huntington's disease.

Similar Datasets

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