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Affiliation(s)
- Luis Miguel Valor
- Unidad de Investigación, Hospital Universitario Puerta del Mar, Cádiz, Spain
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Huang WJ, Chen WW, Zhang X. Huntington's disease: Molecular basis of pathology and status of current therapeutic approaches. Exp Ther Med 2016; 12:1951-1956. [PMID: 27698679 PMCID: PMC5038571 DOI: 10.3892/etm.2016.3566] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2016] [Accepted: 07/27/2016] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is a frequent and incurable hereditary neurodegenerative disorder that impairs motor and cognitive functions. Mutations in huntingtin (HTT) protein, which is essential for neuronal development, lead to the development of HD. An increase in the number of CAG repeats within the HTT gene, which lead to an expansion of polyglutamine tract in the resulting mutated HTT protein, which is toxic, is the causative factor of HD. Although the molecular basis of HD is known, there is no known cure for this disease other than symptomatic relief treatment approaches. The toxicity of mutHTT appears to be more detrimental to striatal medium spiny neurons, which degenerate in this disease. Therapeutic strategies addressing a reduction in the mutHTT content at the transcriptional level using zinc finger proteins and at the translational level with RNA interference and antisense oligonucleotides or promoting the proteosomal degradation of mutHTT are being studied extensively in preclinical models and also to a limited extent in clinical trials. The post-translational modification of mutHTT is another possibility that is currently being investigated for drug development. In addition to the pharmacological approaches, several lines of evidence suggested the potential therapeutic use of stem cell therapy, in particular using the patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells, to replace the lost striatal neurons. The multi-pronged clinical investigations currently underway may identify therapies and potentially improve the quality of life for the HD patients in future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wen-Juan Huang
- Department of Neurology, Xuzhou Central Hospital, Xuzhou, Jiangsu 221009, P.R. China
| | - Wei-Wei Chen
- Department of Neurology, Xuzhou Central Hospital, Xuzhou, Jiangsu 221009, P.R. China
| | - Xia Zhang
- Department of Neurology, Xuzhou Central Hospital, Xuzhou, Jiangsu 221009, P.R. China
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Lin L, Park JW, Ramachandran S, Zhang Y, Tseng YT, Shen S, Waldvogel HJ, Curtis MA, Faull RLM, Troncoso JC, Pletnikova O, Ross CA, Davidson BL, Xing Y. Transcriptome sequencing reveals aberrant alternative splicing in Huntington's disease. Hum Mol Genet 2016; 25:3454-3466. [PMID: 27378699 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddw187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2015] [Revised: 06/11/2016] [Accepted: 06/14/2016] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder caused by a CAG expansion in the gene-encoding Huntingtin (HTT). Transcriptome dysregulation is a major feature of HD pathogenesis, as revealed by a large body of work on gene expression profiling of tissues from human HD patients and mouse models. These studies were primarily focused on transcriptional changes affecting steady-state overall gene expression levels using microarray based approaches. A major missing component, however, has been the study of transcriptome changes at the post-transcriptional level, such as alternative splicing. Alternative splicing is a critical mechanism for expanding regulatory and functional diversity from a limited number of genes, and is particularly complex in the mammalian brain. Here we carried out a deep RNA-seq analysis of the BA4 (Brodmann area 4) motor cortex from seven human HD brains and seven controls to systematically discover aberrant alternative splicing events and characterize potential associated splicing factors in HD. We identified 593 differential alternative splicing events between HD and control brains. Using two expanded panels with a total of 108 BA4 tissues from patients and controls, we identified four splicing factors exhibiting significantly altered expression levels in HD patient brains. Moreover, follow-up molecular analyses of one splicing factor PTBP1 revealed its impact on disease-associated splicing patterns in HD. Collectively, our data provide genomic evidence for widespread splicing dysregulation in HD brains, and suggest the role of aberrant alternative splicing in the pathogenesis of HD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lan Lin
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology, & Molecular Genetics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Juw Won Park
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology, & Molecular Genetics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Shyam Ramachandran
- The Raymond G Perelman Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapy, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Yida Zhang
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology, & Molecular Genetics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Yu-Ting Tseng
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology, & Molecular Genetics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Shihao Shen
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology, & Molecular Genetics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Henry J Waldvogel
- Department of Anatomy and Medical Imaging and Centre for Brain Research, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Maurice A Curtis
- Department of Anatomy and Medical Imaging and Centre for Brain Research, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Richard L M Faull
- Department of Anatomy and Medical Imaging and Centre for Brain Research, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Juan C Troncoso
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Olga Pletnikova
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Christopher A Ross
- Division of Neurobiology; Departments of Psychiatry, Neurology Neuroscience, and Pharmacology; and Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Beverly L Davidson
- The Raymond G Perelman Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapy, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, PA, USA .,The Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, The University of Pennsylvania, PA 19104, USA
| | - Yi Xing
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology, & Molecular Genetics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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Specific promoter deacetylation of histone H3 is conserved across mouse models of Huntington's disease in the absence of bulk changes. Neurobiol Dis 2016; 89:190-201. [DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2016.02.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2015] [Revised: 11/05/2015] [Accepted: 02/02/2016] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
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Ratovitski T, Arbez N, Stewart JC, Chighladze E, Ross CA. PRMT5- mediated symmetric arginine dimethylation is attenuated by mutant huntingtin and is impaired in Huntington's disease (HD). Cell Cycle 2016; 14:1716-29. [PMID: 25927346 DOI: 10.1080/15384101.2015.1033595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Abnormal protein interactions of mutant huntingtin (Htt) triggered by polyglutamine expansion are thought to mediate Huntington's disease (HD) pathogenesis. Here, we explored a functional interaction of Htt with protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5), an enzyme mediating symmetrical dimethylation of arginine (sDMA) of key cellular proteins, including histones, and spliceosomal Sm proteins. Gene transcription and RNA splicing are impaired in HD. We demonstrated PRMT5 and Htt interaction and their co-localization in transfected neurons and in HD brain. As a result of this interaction, normal (but to a lesser extend mutant) Htt stimulated PRMT5 activity in vitro. SDMA of histones H2A and H4 was reduced in the presence of mutant Htt in primary cultured neurons and in HD brain, consistent with a demonstrated reduction in R3Me2s occupancy at the transcriptionally repressed promoters in HD brain. SDMA of another PRMT5 substrate, Cajal body marker coilin, was also reduced in the HD mouse model and in human HD brain. Finally, compensation of PRMT5 deficiency by ectopic expression of PRMT5/MEP50 complexes, or by the knock-down of H4R3Me2 demethylase JMJD6, reversed the toxic effects of mutant Htt in primary cortical neurons, suggesting that PRMT5 deficiency may mediate, at least in part, HD pathogenesis. These studies revealed a potential new mechanism for disruption of gene expression and RNA processing in HD, involving a loss of normal function of Htt in facilitation of PRMT5, supporting the idea that epigenetic regulation of gene transcription may be involved in HD and highlighting symmetric dimethylation of arginine as potential new therapeutic target.
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Key Words
- BDNF, brain-derived neurotrophic factor
- CB, Cajal body
- ChIP, the chromatin immunoprecipitation
- DMEM, Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium
- FBS, fetal bovine serum
- HD, Huntington's disease
- HEK, human embryonic kidney
- Htt, huntingtin
- Huntington's disease mechanism
- IP, immunoprecipitation
- IgG, immunoglobulin
- PIC, protease inhibitors cocktail
- PRMT5, protein arginine methyltransferase
- RNA processing
- SMN, survival of motor neurons
- Sm proteins, spleceosomal small nuclear ribonucleoproteins
- gene transcription
- huntingtin
- neurodegeneration
- polyQ, polyglutamine
- protein interactions
- protein methylation
- sDMA, symmetrical arginine dimethylation
- snRNPs, small nuclear ribonucleoprotein particles
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamara Ratovitski
- a Division of Neurobiology; Department of Psychiatry; Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine ; CMSC 8-121; Baltimore , MD , USA
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Polyzos A, Holt A, Brown C, Cosme C, Wipf P, Gomez-Marin A, Castro MR, Ayala-Peña S, McMurray CT. Mitochondrial targeting of XJB-5-131 attenuates or improves pathophysiology in HdhQ150 animals with well-developed disease phenotypes. Hum Mol Genet 2016; 25:1792-802. [PMID: 26908614 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddw051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2015] [Accepted: 02/15/2016] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Oxidative damage to mitochondria (MT) is a major mechanism for aging and neurodegeneration. We have developed a novel synthetic antioxidant, XJB-5-131, which directly targets MT, the primary site and primary target of oxidative damage. XJB-5-131 prevents the onset of motor decline in an HdhQ(150/150) mouse model for Huntington's disease (HD) if treatment starts early. Here, we report that XJB-5-131 attenuates or reverses disease progression if treatment occurs after disease onset. In animals with well-developed pathology, XJB-5-131 promotes weight gain, prevents neuronal death, reduces oxidative damage in neurons, suppresses the decline of motor performance or improves it, and reduces a graying phenotype in treated HdhQ(150/150) animals relative to matched littermate controls. XJB-5-131 holds promise as a clinical candidate for the treatment of HD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aris Polyzos
- Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Rd., Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Amy Holt
- Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Rd., Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Christopher Brown
- Molecular Cellular Biology Program, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Celica Cosme
- Molecular Cellular Biology Program, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Peter Wipf
- Department of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, 219 Parkman Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
| | - Alex Gomez-Marin
- Instituto de Neurociencias, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas and Universidad Miguel Hernández, Sant Joan d'Alacant, Spain and
| | - Maríadel R Castro
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Puerto Rico, PO Box 365067, San Juan, PR 00936, USA
| | - Sylvette Ayala-Peña
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Puerto Rico, PO Box 365067, San Juan, PR 00936, USA
| | - Cynthia T McMurray
- Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Rd., Berkeley, CA 94720, USA,
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Schroeder AM, Wang HB, Park S, Jordan MC, Gao F, Coppola G, Fishbein MC, Roos KP, Ghiani CA, Colwell CS. Cardiac Dysfunction in the BACHD Mouse Model of Huntington's Disease. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0147269. [PMID: 26807590 PMCID: PMC4725962 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0147269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2014] [Accepted: 12/31/2015] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
While Huntington's disease (HD) is classified as a neurological disorder, HD patients exhibit a high incidence of cardiovascular events leading to heart failure and death. In this study, we sought to better understand the cardiovascular phenotype of HD using the BACHD mouse model. The age-related decline in cardiovascular function was assessed by echocardiograms, electrocardiograms, histological and microarray analysis. We found that structural and functional differences between WT and BACHD hearts start at 3 months of age and continue throughout life. The aged BACHD mice develop cardiac fibrosis and ultimately apoptosis. The BACHD mice exhibited adaptive physiological changes to chronic isoproterenol treatment; however, the medication exacerbated fibrotic lesions in the heart. Gene expression analysis indicated a strong tilt toward apoptosis in the young mutant heart as well as changes in genes involved in cellular metabolism and proliferation. With age, the number of genes with altered expression increased with the large changes occurring in the cardiovascular disease, cellular metabolism, and cellular transport clusters. The BACHD model of HD exhibits a number of changes in cardiovascular function that start early in the disease progress and may provide an explanation for the higher cardiovascular risk in HD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Analyne M. Schroeder
- Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, 90095–1751, United States of America
| | - Huei Bin Wang
- Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, 90095–1751, United States of America
| | - Saemi Park
- Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, 90095–1751, United States of America
| | - Maria C. Jordan
- Department of Physiology and Cardiovascular Research Lab, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, 90095–1751, United States of America
| | - Fuying Gao
- Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, 90095–1751, United States of America
| | - Giovanni Coppola
- Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, 90095–1751, United States of America
| | - Michael C. Fishbein
- Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, 90095–1751, United States of America
| | - Kenneth P. Roos
- Department of Physiology and Cardiovascular Research Lab, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, 90095–1751, United States of America
| | - Cristina A. Ghiani
- Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, 90095–1751, United States of America
- Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, 90095–1751, United States of America
| | - Christopher S. Colwell
- Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, 90095–1751, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Liu L, Huang JS, Han C, Zhang GX, Xu XY, Shen Y, Li J, Jiang HY, Lin ZC, Xiong N, Wang T. Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells in Huntington's Disease: Disease Modeling and the Potential for Cell-Based Therapy. Mol Neurobiol 2015; 53:6698-6708. [PMID: 26659595 DOI: 10.1007/s12035-015-9601-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2015] [Accepted: 12/01/2015] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is an incurable neurodegenerative disorder that is characterized by motor dysfunction, cognitive impairment, and behavioral abnormalities. It is an autosomal dominant disorder caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the huntingtin gene, resulting in progressive neuronal loss predominately in the striatum and cortex. Despite the discovery of the causative gene in 1993, the exact mechanisms underlying HD pathogenesis have yet to be elucidated. Treatments that slow or halt the disease process are currently unavailable. Recent advances in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technologies have transformed our ability to study disease in human neural cells. Here, we firstly review the progress made to model HD in vitro using patient-derived iPSCs, which reveal unique insights into illuminating molecular mechanisms and provide a novel human cell-based platform for drug discovery. We then highlight the promises and challenges for pluripotent stem cells that might be used as a therapeutic source for cell replacement therapy of the lost neurons in HD brains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ling Liu
- Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Jin-Sha Huang
- Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Chao Han
- Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Guo-Xin Zhang
- Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Xiao-Yun Xu
- Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Yan Shen
- Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Jie Li
- Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Hai-Yang Jiang
- Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Zhi-Cheng Lin
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, and Mailman Neuroscience Research Center, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA
| | - Nian Xiong
- Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
| | - Tao Wang
- Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
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Ramsingh AI, Manley K, Rong Y, Reilly A, Messer A. Transcriptional dysregulation of inflammatory/immune pathways after active vaccination against Huntington's disease. Hum Mol Genet 2015; 24:6186-97. [PMID: 26307082 PMCID: PMC4599676 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddv335] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2015] [Revised: 08/04/2015] [Accepted: 08/10/2015] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Immunotherapy, both active and passive, is increasingly recognized as a powerful approach to a wide range of diseases, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Huntington's disease (HD), an autosomal dominant disorder triggered by misfolding of huntingtin (HTT) protein with an expanded polyglutamine tract, could also benefit from this approach. Individuals can be identified genetically at the earliest stages of disease, and there may be particular benefits to a therapy that can target peripheral tissues in addition to brain. In this active vaccination study, we first examined safety and immunogenicity for a broad series of peptide, protein and DNA plasmid immunization protocols, using fragment (R6/1), and knock-in (zQ175) models. No safety issues were found. The strongest and most uniform immune response was to a combination of three non-overlapping HTT Exon1 coded peptides, conjugated to KLH, delivered with alum adjuvant. An N586-82Q plasmid, delivered via gene gun, also showed ELISA responses, mainly in the zQ175 strain, but with more variability, and less robust responses in HD compared with wild-type controls. Transcriptome profiling of spleens from the triple peptide-immunized cohort showed substantial HD-specific differences including differential activation of genes associated with innate immune responses, absence of negative feedback control of gene expression by regulators, a temporal dysregulation of innate immune responses and transcriptional repression of genes associated with memory T cell responses. These studies highlight critical issues for immunotherapy and HD disease management in general.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arlene I Ramsingh
- New York State Department of Health, Wadsworth Center, Albany, NY, USA and
| | - Kevin Manley
- New York State Department of Health, Wadsworth Center, Albany, NY, USA and
| | - Yinghui Rong
- New York State Department of Health, Wadsworth Center, Albany, NY, USA and
| | - Andrew Reilly
- New York State Department of Health, Wadsworth Center, Albany, NY, USA and
| | - Anne Messer
- New York State Department of Health, Wadsworth Center, Albany, NY, USA and Neural Stem Cell Institute, Regenerative Research Foundation, Rensselaer, NY, USA
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Human Genes Encoding Transcription Factors and Chromatin-Modifying Proteins Have Low Levels of Promoter Polymorphism: A Study of 1000 Genomes Project Data. Int J Genomics 2015; 2015:260159. [PMID: 26417590 PMCID: PMC4568383 DOI: 10.1155/2015/260159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2015] [Accepted: 07/29/2015] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The expression level of each gene is controlled by its regulatory regions, which determine the precise regulation in a tissue-specific manner, according to the developmental stage of the body and the necessity of a response to external stimuli. Nucleotide substitutions in regulatory gene regions may modify the affinity of transcription factors to their specific DNA binding sites, affecting the transcription rates of genes. In our previous research, we found that genes controlling the sensory perception of smell and genes involved in antigen processing and presentation were overrepresented significantly among genes with high SNP contents in their promoter regions. The goal of our study was to reveal functional features of human genes containing extremely small numbers of SNPs in promoter regions. Two functional groups were found to be overrepresented among genes whose promoters did not contain SNPs: (1) genes involved in gene-specific transcription and (2) genes controlling chromatin organization. We revealed that the 5′-regulatory regions of genes encoding transcription factors and chromatin-modifying proteins were characterized by reduced genetic variability. One important exception from this rule refers to genes encoding transcription factors with zinc-coordinating DNA-binding domains (DBDs), which underwent extensive expansion in vertebrates, particularly, in primate evolution. Hence, we obtained new evidence for evolutionary forces shaping variability in 5′-regulatory regions of genes.
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Sharma S, Taliyan R. Transcriptional dysregulation in Huntington's disease: The role of histone deacetylases. Pharmacol Res 2015; 100:157-69. [PMID: 26254871 DOI: 10.1016/j.phrs.2015.08.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2015] [Revised: 08/03/2015] [Accepted: 08/03/2015] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is a progressive neurological disorder for which there are no disease-modifying treatments. Although, the exact underlying mechanism(s) leading to the neural cell death in HD still remains elusive, the transcriptional dysregulation is a major molecular feature. Recently, the transcriptional activation and repression regulated by chromatin acetylation has been found to be impaired in HD pathology. The acetylation and deacetylation of histone proteins is carried out by opposing actions of histone acetyl-transferases and histone deacetylases (HDACs), respectively. Studies carried out in cell culture, yeast, Drosophila and rodent model(s) have indicated that HDAC inhibitors (HDACIs) might provide useful class of therapeutic agents for HD. Clinical trials have also reported the beneficial effects of HDACIs in patients suffering from HD. Therefore, the development of HDACIs as therapeutics for HD has been vigorously pursued. In this review, we highlight and summarize the putative role of HDACs in HD like pathology and further discuss the potential of HDACIs as new therapeutic avenues for the treatment of HD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sorabh Sharma
- Neuropharmacology Division, Department of Pharmacy Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani 333031, Rajasthan, India.
| | - Rajeev Taliyan
- Neuropharmacology Division, Department of Pharmacy Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani 333031, Rajasthan, India
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63
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Valor LM. Epigenetic-based therapies in the preclinical and clinical treatment of Huntington's disease. Int J Biochem Cell Biol 2015; 67:45-8. [PMID: 25936670 DOI: 10.1016/j.biocel.2015.04.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2015] [Revised: 04/17/2015] [Accepted: 04/21/2015] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
The study of epigenetics is providing novel insights about the functional and developmental complexity of the nervous system. In neuropathology, therapies aimed at correcting epigenetic dysregulation have been extensively documented in a large variety of models for neurodegenerative, neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. Taking the treatment of Huntington's disease as a paradigm for the study of these ameliorative strategies, this review updates the main conclusions derived from the use of epigenetic drugs at the preclinical and clinical stages, including actions beyond epigenetics. This article is part of a Directed Issue entitled: Epigenetics dynamics in development and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis M Valor
- Instituto de Neurociencias de Alicante (Universidad Miguel Hernández - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas), Av. Santiago Ramón y Cajal s/n, Sant Joan d'Alacant, 03550 Alicante, Spain.
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Walsh MJ, Cooper-Knock J, Dodd JE, Stopford MJ, Mihaylov SR, Kirby J, Shaw PJ, Hautbergue GM. Invited review: decoding the pathophysiological mechanisms that underlie RNA dysregulation in neurodegenerative disorders: a review of the current state of the art. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol 2015; 41:109-34. [PMID: 25319671 PMCID: PMC4329338 DOI: 10.1111/nan.12187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2014] [Accepted: 10/07/2014] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Altered RNA metabolism is a key pathophysiological component causing several neurodegenerative diseases. Genetic mutations causing neurodegeneration occur in coding and noncoding regions of seemingly unrelated genes whose products do not always contribute to the gene expression process. Several pathogenic mechanisms may coexist within a single neuronal cell, including RNA/protein toxic gain-of-function and/or protein loss-of-function. Genetic mutations that cause neurodegenerative disorders disrupt healthy gene expression at diverse levels, from chromatin remodelling, transcription, splicing, through to axonal transport and repeat-associated non-ATG (RAN) translation. We address neurodegeneration in repeat expansion disorders [Huntington's disease, spinocerebellar ataxias, C9ORF72-related amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)] and in diseases caused by deletions or point mutations (spinal muscular atrophy, most subtypes of familial ALS). Some neurodegenerative disorders exhibit broad dysregulation of gene expression with the synthesis of hundreds to thousands of abnormal messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules. However, the number and identity of aberrant mRNAs that are translated into proteins - and how these lead to neurodegeneration - remain unknown. The field of RNA biology research faces the challenge of identifying pathophysiological events of dysregulated gene expression. In conclusion, we discuss current research limitations and future directions to improve our characterization of pathological mechanisms that trigger disease onset and progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- M J Walsh
- Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), Department of Neuroscience, University of SheffieldSheffield, UK
| | - J Cooper-Knock
- Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), Department of Neuroscience, University of SheffieldSheffield, UK
| | - J E Dodd
- Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), Department of Neuroscience, University of SheffieldSheffield, UK
| | - M J Stopford
- Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), Department of Neuroscience, University of SheffieldSheffield, UK
| | - S R Mihaylov
- Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), Department of Neuroscience, University of SheffieldSheffield, UK
| | - J Kirby
- Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), Department of Neuroscience, University of SheffieldSheffield, UK
| | - P J Shaw
- Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), Department of Neuroscience, University of SheffieldSheffield, UK
| | - G M Hautbergue
- Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), Department of Neuroscience, University of SheffieldSheffield, UK
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