Inhibition of caspase-1 slows disease progression in a mouse model of Huntington's disease - PubMed (original) (raw)

. 1999 May 20;399(6733):263-7.

doi: 10.1038/20446.

M Li, J P Vonsattel, L J Andrews, S Q Khan, W M Chung, A S Frey, A S Menon, X J Li, P E Stieg, J Yuan, J B Penney, A B Young, J H Cha, R M Friedlander

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Inhibition of caspase-1 slows disease progression in a mouse model of Huntington's disease

V O Ona et al. Nature. 1999.

Abstract

Huntington's disease is an autosomal-dominant progressive neurodegenerative disorder resulting in specific neuronal loss and dysfunction in the striatum and cortex. The disease is universally fatal, with a mean survival following onset of 15-20 years and, at present, there is no effective treatment. The mutation in patients with Huntington's disease is an expanded CAG/polyglutamine repeat in huntingtin, a protein of unknown function with a relative molecular mass of 350,000 (M(r) 350K). The length of the CAG/polyglutamine repeat is inversely correlated with the age of disease onset. The molecular pathways mediating the neuropathology of Huntington's disease are poorly understood. Transgenic mice expressing exon 1 of the human huntingtin gene with an expanded CAG/polyglutamine repeat develop a progressive syndrome with many of the characteristics of human Huntington's disease. Here we demonstrate evidence of caspase-1 activation in the brains of mice and humans with the disease. In this transgenic mouse model of Huntington's disease, expression of a dominant-negative caspase-1 mutant extends survival and delays the appearance of neuronal inclusions, neurotransmitter receptor alterations and onset of symptoms, indicating that caspase-1 is important in the pathogenesis of the disease. In addition, we demonstrate that intracerebroventricular administration of a caspase inhibitor delays disease progression and mortality in the mouse model of Huntington's disease.

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