Browsing by keyword "HTT"

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    • Rac1 Activity Is Modulated by Huntingtin and Dysregulated in Models of Huntington's Disease
      Tousley, Adelaide; Khvorova, Anastasia; Aronin, Neil; Kegel-Gleason, Kimberly B. (2019-02-13)
      BACKGROUND: Previous studies suggest that Huntingtin, the protein mutated in Huntington's disease (HD), is required for actin based changes in cell morphology, and undergoes stimulus induced targeting to plasma membranes where it interacts with phospholipids involved in cell signaling. The small GTPase Rac1 is a downstream target of growth factor stimulation and PI 3-kinase activity and is critical for actin dependent membrane remodeling. OBJECTIVE: To determine if Rac1 activity is impaired in HD or regulated by normal Huntingtin. METHODS: Analyses were performed in differentiated control and HD human stem cells and HD Q140/Q140 knock-in mice. Biochemical methods included SDS-PAGE, western blot, immunoprecipitation, affinity chromatography, and ELISA based Rac activity assays. RESULTS: Basal Rac1 activity increased following depletion of Huntingtin with Huntingtin specific siRNA in human primary fibroblasts and in human control neuron cultures. Human cells (fibroblasts, neural stem cells, and neurons) with the HD mutation failed to increase Rac1 activity in response to growth factors. Rac1 activity levels were elevated in striatum of 1.5-month-old HD Q140/Q140 mice and in primary embryonic cortical neurons from HD mice. Affinity chromatography analysis of striatal lysates showed that Huntingtin is in a complex with Rac1, p85alpha subunit of PI 3-kinase, and the actin bundling protein alpha-actinin and interacts preferentially with the GTP bound form of Rac1. The HD mutation reduced Huntingtin interaction with p85alpha. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that Huntingtin regulates Rac1 activity as part of a coordinated response to growth factor signaling and this function is impaired early in HD.

    • Safe and Efficient Silencing with a Pol II, but Not a Pol lII, Promoter Expressing an Artificial miRNA Targeting Human Huntingtin
      Pfister, Edith L.; Chase, Kathryn O.; Sun, Huaming; Kennington, Lori A.; Conroy, Faith; Johnson, Emily S.; Miller, Rachael; Borel, Florie; Aronin, Neil; Mueller, Christian (2017-06-16)
      Huntington's disease is a devastating, incurable neurodegenerative disease affecting up to 12 per 100,000 patients worldwide. The disease is caused by a mutation in the Huntingtin (Htt) gene. There is interest in reducing mutant Huntingtin by targeting it at the mRNA level, but the maximum tolerable dose and long-term effects of such a treatment are unknown. Using a self-complementary AAV9 vector, we delivered a mir-155-based artificial miRNA under the control of the chicken beta-actin or human U6 promoter. In mouse brain, the artificial miRNA reduced the human huntingtin mRNA by 50%. The U6, but not the CbetaA promoter, produced the artificial miRNA at supraphysiologic levels. Embedding the antisense strand in a U6-mir-30 scaffold reduced expression of the antisense strand but increased the sense strand. In mice treated with scAAV9-U6-mir-155-HTT or scAAV9-CbetaA-mir-155-HTT, activated microglia were present around the injection site 1 month post-injection. Six months post-injection, mice treated with scAAV9-CbetaA-mir-155-HTT were indistinguishable from controls. Those that received scAAV9-U6-mir-155-HTT showed behavioral abnormalities and striatal damage. In conclusion, miRNA backbone and promoter can be used together to modulate expression levels and strand selection of artificial miRNAs, and in brain, the CbetaA promoter can provide an effective and safe dose of a human huntingtin miRNA.