title: Localization of rabbit huntingtin using a new panel of monoclonal antibodies.
abstract: Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder caused by the expansion of a CAG repeat which is expressed as a polyglutamine tract near the N-terminus of the gene product, huntingtin. N-terminal huntingtin fragments form intranuclear aggregates in HD patients and these may be involved in the pathogenesis. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against three different regions of huntingtin (amino acids 997-1276, 1844-2131 and 2703-2911) have been produced and two of the epitopes have been identified using phage displayed peptide libraries. All mAbs reacted with 350 kDa huntingtin on Western blots and one mAb from each region was selected for further study by strong immunoreactivity with neurons in different regions of rabbit brain and by ability to immunoprecipitate native huntingtin. Subcellular fractionation and sucrose density centrifugation of rabbit brain extract showed that most of the huntingtin exists as a high molecular weight complex in the cytoplasm. Two outstanding problems have been addressed; the location of huntingtin in tissues outside the central nervous system and whether huntingtin is present in the nucleus of normal cells. We conclude that huntingtin is present at low levels in most non-neuronal cells though we have identified an interstitial cell type in skin with very high immunoreactivity. Using both immunolocalization and nuclear purification methods, we were unable to exclude the possibility that a small proportion of full-length huntingtin is present in the nucleus.
authors.affiliation: MRIC Biochemistry Group, NE Wales Institute, Plas Coch, Wrexham, LL11 2AW, UK.
authors.forename: F L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Wilkinson
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Manilal
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Neal
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Harper
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: G E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Morris
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D001435:Bacteriophages; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001923:Brain Chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D003429:Cross Reactions; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology; D015723:Gene Library; D000071058:Huntingtin Protein; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics; D007801:Langerhans Cells / Q000737:chemistry; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D017966:Pyramidal Cells / Q000737:chemistry; D011817:Rabbits; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D018911:Trinucleotide Repeats
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000939:Epitopes; C506812:Htt protein, mouse; D000071058:Huntingtin Protein; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins