title: A novel humanized mouse model of Huntington disease for preclinical development of therapeutics targeting mutant huntingtin alleles.
abstract: Huntington disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disease caused by a mutation in the huntingtin (HTT) gene. HTT is a large protein, interacts with many partners and is involved in many cellular pathways, which are perturbed in HD. Therapies targeting HTT directly are likely to provide the most global benefit. Thus there is a need for preclinical models of HD recapitulating human HTT genetics. We previously generated a humanized mouse model of HD, Hu97/18, by intercrossing BACHD and YAC18 mice with knockout of the endogenous mouse HD homolog (Hdh). Hu97/18 mice recapitulate the genetics of HD, having two full-length, genomic human HTT transgenes heterozygous for the HD mutation and polymorphisms associated with HD in populations of Caucasian descent. We have now generated a companion model, Hu128/21, by intercrossing YAC128 and BAC21 mice on the Hdh-/- background. Hu128/21 mice have two full-length, genomic human HTT transgenes heterozygous for the HD mutation and polymorphisms associated with HD in populations of East Asian descent and in a minority of patients from other ethnic groups. Hu128/21 mice display a wide variety of HD-like phenotypes that are similar to YAC128 mice. Additionally, both transgenes in Hu128/21 mice match the human HTT exon 1 reference sequence. Conversely, the BACHD transgene carries a floxed, synthetic exon 1 sequence. Hu128/21 mice will be useful for investigations of human HTT that cannot be addressed in Hu97/18 mice, for developing therapies targeted to exon 1, and for preclinical screening of personalized HTT lowering therapies in HD patients of East Asian descent.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Child and Family Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Amber L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Southwell
authors.affiliation: Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Child and Family Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.|Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Niels H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Skotte
authors.affiliation: Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Child and Family Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Erika B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Villanueva
authors.affiliation: IONIS Pharmaceuticals, Carlsbad, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Michael E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Østergaard
authors.affiliation: Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior; Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Xiaofeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: IONIS Pharmaceuticals, Carlsbad, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Holly B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Kordasiewicz
authors.affiliation: Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Child and Family Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kay
authors.affiliation: Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Child and Family Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Daphne
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.affiliation: Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Child and Family Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Yuanyun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Child and Family Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Waltl
authors.affiliation: Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Child and Family Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Louisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dal Cengio
authors.affiliation: Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Child and Family Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Hailey
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Findlay-Black
authors.affiliation: Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Child and Family Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Crystal N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Doty
authors.affiliation: Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Child and Family Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Eugenia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Petoukhov
authors.affiliation: Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Child and Family Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Diepiriye
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Iworima
authors.affiliation: Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Child and Family Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Ramy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Slama
authors.affiliation: Translational Laboratory in Genetic Medicine, Agency for Science, Technology and Research and the Department of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 138648.
authors.forename: Jolene
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ooi
authors.affiliation: Translational Laboratory in Genetic Medicine, Agency for Science, Technology and Research and the Department of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 138648.|Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597.
authors.forename: Mahmoud A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Pouladi
authors.affiliation: Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior; Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: X William
authors.initials: XW
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: IONIS Pharmaceuticals, Carlsbad, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Eric E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Swayze
authors.affiliation: IONIS Pharmaceuticals, Carlsbad, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Punit P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Seth
authors.affiliation: Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Child and Family Research Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Hayden
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005091:Exons / Q000235:genetics; D006579:Heterozygote; D006801:Humans; D000071058:Huntingtin Protein / Q000235:genetics*; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics*; D010641:Phenotype
chemical_list: D000071058:Huntingtin Protein