Project description:Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative polyglutamine (polyQ) disease resulting from the expansion of CAG repeats located in the ORF of the huntingtin gene (HTT). The extent to which mutant mRNA‐driven disruptions contribute to HD pathogenesis, particularly in comparison to the dominant mechanisms related to the gain‐of‐function effects of the mutant polyQ protein, is still debatable. To evaluate this contribution in vivo, we generated two mouse models through a knock‐in strategy at the Rosa26 locus. These models expressed distinct variants of human mutant HTT cDNA fragment: a translated variant (HD/100Q model, serving as a reference) and a nontranslated variant (HD/100CAG model). The cohorts of animals were subjected to a broad spectrum of molecular, behavioral, and cognitive analysis for 21 months. Behavioral testing revealed alterations in both models, with the HD/100Q model exhibiting late disease phenotype. The rotarod, static rod, and open‐field tests showed some motor deficits in HD/100CAG and HD/100Q model mice during the light phase, while ActiMot indicated hyperkinesis during the dark phase. Both models also exhibited certain gene deregulations in the striatum that are related to disrupted pathways and phenotype alterations observed in HD. In conclusion, we provide in vivo evidence for a minor contributory role of mutant RNA in HD pathogenesis. The separated effects resulting from the presence of mutant RNA in the HD/100CAG model led to less severe but, to some extent, similar types of impairments as in the HD/100Q model. Increased anxiety was one of the most substantial effects caused by mutant HTT RNA.
Project description:Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative polyglutamine (polyQ) disease resulting from the expansion of CAG repeats located in the ORF of the huntingtin gene (HTT). The extent to which mutant mRNA-driven disruptions contribute to HD pathogenesis, particularly in comparison to the dominant mechanisms related to the gain-of-function effects of the mutant polyQ protein, is still debatable. To evaluate this contribution in vivo, we generated two mouse models through a knock-in strategy at the Rosa26 locus. These models expressed distinct variants of human mutant HTT cDNA fragment: a translated variant (HD/100Q model, serving as a reference) and a nontranslated variant (HD/100CAG model). The cohorts of animals were subjected to a broad spectrum of molecular, behavioral, and cognitive analysis for 21 months. Behavioral testing revealed alterations in both models, with the HD/100Q model exhibiting late disease phenotype. The rotarod, static rod, and open-field tests showed some motor deficits in HD/100CAG and HD/100Q model mice during the light phase, while ActiMot indicated hyperkinesis during the dark phase. Both models also exhibited certain gene deregulations in the striatum that are related to disrupted pathways and phenotype alterations observed in HD. In conclusion, we provide in vivo evidence for a minor contributory role of mutant RNA in HD pathogenesis. The separated effects resulting from the presence of mutant RNA in the HD/100CAG model led to less severe but, to some extent, similar types of impairments as in the HD/100Q model. Increased anxiety was one of the most substantial effects caused by mutant HTT RNA.
Project description:Hdac4 has been found to modulate symptoms in Huntington's Disease (HD) mouse models through an uknown mechanism unrelated to any enzymatic activity. We investigated the protein-protein interactions to gain insight into the role of Hdac4 in HD.
Project description:Huntington's disease (HD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder caused by the expansion of CAG repeats in the huntingtin (HTT) gene. Recent advances in gene editing technologies, such as CRISPR/CasRx, have opened new avenues for therapeutic interventions. In this study, we explored the efficacy of CRISPR/CasRx, which can specifically and accurately digest single-stranded RNA and down-regulate the expression of related genes, in targeting the HTT mRNA and its potential as a treatment strategy for HD. Our results showed that CRISPR/CasRx could significantly down-regulate HTT mRNA in different models, including human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293T cells, HD140Q-knockin (HD 140Q-KI) mice at various disease stages, and Huntingtin knockin (HD-KI) pigs, and lead to a subsequent decrease in the expression of mutant Huntingtin (mHTT) protein. Moreover, this intervention could significantly ameliorate the neurological symptoms in HD 140Q-KI mice and HD-KI pigs. These findings highlight the effectiveness of the RNA-targeting CRISPR/CasRx as a potential therapeutic strategy for HD. Furthermore, the success of this approach provides valuable insights and novel avenues for the treatment of other genetic disorders caused by gene mutations.
Project description:To investigate the effects of the drug candidate CMS121 on transcrptional changes in the striatum of the R6/2 mouse model of Huntington's disease at 14 weeks of age.
Project description:Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder that is characterized by motor, cognitive, and psychiatric alterations. The mutation responsible for this disease is an abnormally expanded and unstable CAG repeat within the coding region of the gene encoding huntingtin (Htt). Knock-in mouse models of HD with human exon 1 containing expanded CAG repeats inserted in the murine huntingtin gene (Hdh) provide a genetic reconstruction of the human causative mutation within the mouse model. The goal of this study is RNA expression profiling by RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) in 6 month old knock-in mice with CAG lengths of 175 along with littermate control wild-type animals.