Mutant huntingtin and glycogen synthase kinase 3-β accumulate in neuronal lipid rafts of a presymptomatic knock-in mouse model of Huntington's disease
✍ Scribed by Antonio Valencia; Patrick B. Reeves; Ellen Sapp; Xueyi Li; Jonathan Alexander; Kimberly B. Kegel; Kathryn Chase; Neil Aronin; Marian DiFiglia
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2009
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 525 KB
- Volume
- 88
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0360-4012
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✦ Synopsis
Abstract
Patients with Huntington's disease have an expanded polyglutamine tract in huntingtin and suffer severe brain atrophy and neurodegeneration. Because membrane dysfunction can occur in Huntington's disease, we addressed whether mutant huntingtin in brain and primary neurons is present in lipid rafts, which are cholesterol‐enriched membrane domains that mediate growth and survival signals. Biochemical analysis of detergent‐resistant membranes from brains and primary neurons of wild‐type and presymptomatic Huntington's disease knock‐in mice showed that wild‐type and mutant huntingtin were recovered in lipid raft‐enriched detergent‐resistant membranes. The association with lipid rafts was stronger for mutant huntingtin than wild‐type huntingtin. Lipid rafts extracted from Huntington's disease mice had normal levels of lipid raft markers (G~αq~, Ras, and flotillin) but significantly more glycogen synthase kinase 3‐β. Increases in glycogen synthase kinase 3‐β have been associated with apoptotic cell death. Treating Huntington's disease primary neurons with inhibitors of glycogen synthase kinase 3‐β reduced neuronal death. We speculate that accumulation of mutant huntingtin and glycogen synthase kinase 3‐β in lipid rafts of presymptomatic Huntington's disease mouse neurons contributes to neurodegeneration in Huntington's disease. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.