title: Polyglutamine-Expanded Huntingtin Exacerbates Age-Related Disruption of Nuclear Integrity and Nucleocytoplasmic Transport.
abstract: Onset of neurodegenerative disorders, including Huntington's disease, is strongly influenced by aging. Hallmarks of aged cells include compromised nuclear envelope integrity, impaired nucleocytoplasmic transport, and accumulation of DNA double-strand breaks. We show that mutant huntingtin markedly accelerates all of these cellular phenotypes in a dose- and age-dependent manner in cortex and striatum of mice. Huntingtin-linked polyglutamine initially accumulates in nuclei, leading to disruption of nuclear envelope architecture, partial sequestration of factors essential for nucleocytoplasmic transport (Gle1 and RanGAP1), and intranuclear accumulation of mRNA. In aged mice, accumulation of RanGAP1 together with polyglutamine is shifted to perinuclear and cytoplasmic areas. Consistent with findings in mice, marked alterations in nuclear envelope morphology, abnormal localization of RanGAP1, and nuclear accumulation of mRNA were found in cortex of Huntington's disease patients. Overall, our findings identify polyglutamine-dependent inhibition of nucleocytoplasmic transport and alteration of nuclear integrity as a central component of Huntington's disease.
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
authors.forename: Fatima
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gasset-Rosa
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chillon-Marinas
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Goginashvili
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Ranjit Singh
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Atwal
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
authors.forename: Jonathan W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Artates
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Broad Institute of Harvard University and MIT, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.
authors.forename: Ricardos
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tabet
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Vanessa C
authors.initials: VC
authors.lastname: Wheeler
authors.affiliation: Conrad Prebys Center for Chemical Genomics, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
authors.forename: Anne G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Bang
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA; Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA. Electronic address: dcleveland@ucsd.edu.
authors.forename: Don W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Cleveland
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Broad Institute of Harvard University and MIT, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA. Electronic address: clagier-tourenne@mgh.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Clotilde
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lagier-Tourenne
mesh_terms: D021581:Active Transport, Cell Nucleus; D000328:Adult; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002467:Cell Nucleus; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D020690:GTPase-Activating Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D000071058:Huntingtin Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008875:Middle Aged; D009154:Mutation; D017072:Neostriatum / Q000378:metabolism*; D009685:Nuclear Envelope / Q000378:metabolism*; D029543:Nucleocytoplasmic Transport Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D010455:Peptides / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D020690:GTPase-Activating Proteins; C474082:Gle1 protein, human; C000621449:Gle1 protein, mouse; C086055:HTT protein, human; C506812:Htt protein, mouse; D000071058:Huntingtin Protein; D029543:Nucleocytoplasmic Transport Proteins; D010455:Peptides; C092317:RANGAP1 protein, human; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C085844:Rangap1 protein, mouse; C097188:polyglutamine