Cited by 1,030Genetic Neurodegenerative DiseasesMitochondrial Function and PathologyHereditary Neurological Disorders

Early mitochondrial calcium defects in Huntington's disease are a direct effect of polyglutamines

Panov, Alexander V., Gutekunst, Claire-Anne, Leavitt, Blair R., Hayden, Michael R., Burke, James R., Strittmatter, Warren J., Greenamyre, J. Timothy·2002·Nature Neuroscience

Abstract

Huntington's disease (HD) is caused by an expansion of exonic CAG triplet repeats in the gene encoding huntingtin protein (Htt), but the mechanisms by which this mutant protein causes neurodegeneration remain unknown. Here we show that lymphoblast mitochondria from patients with HD have a lower membrane potential and depolarize at lower calcium loads than do mitochondria from controls. We found a similar defect in brain mitochondria from transgenic mice expressing full-length mutant huntingtin, and this defect preceded the onset of pathological or behavioral abnormalities by months. By electron microscopy, we identified N-terminal mutant huntingtin on neuronal mitochondrial membranes, and by incubating normal mitochondria with a fusion protein containing an abnormally long polyglutamine repeat, we reproduced the mitochondrial calcium defect seen in human patients and transgenic animals. Thus, mitochondrial calcium abnormalities occur early in HD pathogenesis and may be a direct effect of mutant huntingtin on the organelle.

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Crossref · 10.1038/nn884

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  • Mutant Htt associates directly with the outer mitochondrial membrane.

    “There is evidence from an HD mouse model, and from cultured HD striatal cells (STHdhQ111), that mutant Htt associates directly with the outer mitochondrial membrane49, 57.”

    From Mitochondrial Approaches for Neuroprotection (2008) · cites this paper as [49]

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Authors
Panov, A. V., Gutekunst, C.-A., Leavitt, B. R., Hayden, M. R., Burke, J. R., Strittmatter, W. J., & Greenamyre, J. T.
Affiliations
  • Emory University (US)
  • University of British Columbia (CA)
  • Duke Medical Center (US)
Corresponding author
Greenamyre, J. Timothy
Venue
Nature Neuroscience
Published
2002-07-01
Volume
5
Issue
8
Pages
731-736
ISSN
  • 1097-6256 (ISSN-L)
  • 1546-1726
OpenAlex
W1972771185
Cited by
1,030
References
35
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 26 · 2023: 27 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 49 · 2020: 29 · 2019: 35 · 2018: 39 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 45 · 2015: 35 · 2014: 48 · 2013: 33 · 2012: 68
FWCI
19.24
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Nature Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (5r01ag014648-05)
  • National Institute on Aging (AG14648)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Genetic Neurodegenerative Diseases
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Mitochondrial Function and Pathology
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Hereditary Neurological Disorders
Keywords
Huntington's disease, mitochondrial calcium handling, polyglutamine expansion, mutant huntingtin, mitochondrial membrane potential, mitochondrial depolarization, neurodegeneration, transgenic mice, early pathogenesis
MeSH terms
Huntingtin Protein, Animals, Brain, Brain Chemistry, Calcium, Cell Line, Disease Models, Animal, Humans, Huntington Disease, Intracellular Membranes, Lymphocytes, Membrane Potentials, Mice, Transgenic, Microscopy, Electron, Mitochondria, Nerve Tissue Proteins, Nuclear Proteins, Recombinant Fusion Proteins, Trinucleotide Repeat Expansion, Mice

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