title: Compounds blocking mutant huntingtin toxicity identified using a Huntington's disease neuronal cell model.
abstract: Neuronal cell death in HD is believed to be largely a dominant cell-autonomous effect of the mutant huntingtin protein. We previously developed an inducible PC12 cell model which expresses an N-terminal huntingtin fragment with an expanded poly Q repeat (N63-148Q) under the control of the tet-off system. In order to evaluate the ability of compounds to protect against mutant huntingtin toxicity in our model, we measured LDH released by dead cells into the medium. We have now screened the library of 1040 compounds from the NINDS Custom Collection as part of a National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) collaborative project. Each positive compound was tested at 3-8 concentrations. Five compounds significantly attenuated mutant huntingtin (htt)-induced LDH release without affecting the expression level of huntingtin and independent of effect on aggregates. We also tested a broad spectrum caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-fmk and previously proposed candidate compounds. This cell model can provide a method to screen potential therapeutic compounds for treating Huntington's disease.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurobiology, Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205-2109, USA.
authors.forename: Wenfei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Wenzhen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.forename: Shuichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Igarashi
authors.forename: Hokuto
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Christopher A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Ross
mesh_terms: D000590:Amino Acid Chloromethyl Ketones / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D061945:Caspase Inhibitors; D020169:Caspases / Q000378:metabolism; D016923:Cell Death / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical / Q000379:methods; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D000071058:Huntingtin Protein; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics*; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000235:genetics / Q000633:toxicity; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000235:genetics / Q000633:toxicity; D016716:PC12 Cells; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000235:genetics / Q000633:toxicity; D010455:Peptides / Q000235:genetics; D051381:Rats; D018911:Trinucleotide Repeats / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000590:Amino Acid Chloromethyl Ketones; D061945:Caspase Inhibitors; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; C086055:HTT protein, human; D000071058:Huntingtin Protein; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D010455:Peptides; C096713:benzyloxycarbonylvalyl-alanyl-aspartyl fluoromethyl ketone; C097188:polyglutamine; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; D020169:Caspases