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Detection of Mutant Huntingtin Aggregation Conformers and Modulation of SDS-Soluble Fibrillar Oligomers by Small Molecules

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Sontag, Emily Mitchell; | Lotz, Gregor P.; | Yang, Guocheng; | Sontag, Christopher J.; ; | Cummings, Brian J.; ; ; | Glabe, Charles G. | Muchowski, Paul J.; ; ; | Thompson, Leslie Michels; ; ; ;

Affiliations: Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA | Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA | Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, San Francisco, CA, USA | Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA | Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Center, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA | MIND Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA | Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA | Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA | Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA | Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA | Taube-Koret Center for Huntington's Disease Research, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA | Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA

Note: [] Present address: Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Novartis Pharma AG, CH-4002 Basel.

Note: [] Correspondence to: Leslie M. Thompson, PhD, 3214 Biological Sciences III, Irvine, CA 92697-4545, USA. Tel.: +1 949 824 6756; Fax: +1 949 824 2577; E-mail: [email protected]

Keywords: Huntington's disease, Huntingtin protein, amyloid fibrils, Time-Lapsed Imaging, epigallocatechin-3-gallate, CEP-1347

DOI: 10.3233/JHD-2012-129004

Journal: Journal of Huntington's Disease, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 119-132, 2012

Published: 2012
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Abstract

The Huntington's disease (HD) mutation leads to a complex process of Huntingtin (Htt) aggregation into multimeric species that eventually form visible inclusions in cytoplasm, nuclei and neuronal processes. One hypothesis is that smaller, soluble forms of amyloid proteins confer toxic effects and contribute to early cell dysfunction. However, analysis of mutant Htt aggregation intermediates to identify conformers that may represent toxic forms of the protein and represent potential drug targets remains difficult. We performed a detailed analysis of aggregation conformers in multiple in vitro, cell and ex vivo models of HD. Conformation-specific antibodies were used to identify and characterize aggregation species, allowing assessment of multiple conformers present during the aggregation process. Using a series of assays together with these antibodies, several forms could be identified. Fibrillar oligomers, defined as having a β-sheet rich conformation, are observed in vitro using recombinant protein and in protein extracts from cells in culture or mouse brain and shown to be globular, soluble and non-sedimentable structures. Compounds previously described to modulate visible inclusion body formation and reduce toxicity in HD models were also tested and consistently found to alter the formation of fibrillar oligomers. Interestingly, these compounds did not alter the rate of visible inclusion formation, indicating that fibrillar oligomers are not necessarily the rate limiting step of inclusion body formation. Taken together, we provide insights into the structure and formation of mutant Htt fibrillar oligomers that can be modulated by small molecules with protective potential in HD models.

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