title: UVB irradiation-induced apoptosis increased in lymphocytes of Huntington's disease patients.
abstract: Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder caused by CAG repeat expansion in the IT-15 gene coding for huntingtin. The mechanism of neuronal degeneration induced by the mutant huntingtin is not known. Apoptosis may play a role in it. Huntingtin is widely expressed in the cells, so abnormalities can be expected also in non-neural tissue. We examined the susceptibility of lymphocytes from HD patients, asymptomatic carriers and normal individuals to UVB irradiation-induced apoptosis. Lymphocytes from eight HD patients and two asymptomatic carriers showed increased apoptotic cell death compared to controls. Our results suggests that sensitivity of HD cells to induced apoptosis is not restricted to neurons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Szeged, Albert Szent-Gyorgyi Medical and Pharmaceutical Center, Faculty of General Medicine, Hungary.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jakab
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Novák
authors.forename: J I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Engelhardt
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kemény
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kálmán
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vécsei
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Raskó
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017209:Apoptosis; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays