Project description:Transcriptional dysregulation in Huntington’s disease (HD) is an early event that affects the expression of genes involved in survival and neuronal functions throughout the progression of the pathology. In the last years, extensive research has focused on epigenetic and chromatin-modifying factors as a causative explanation for such dysregulation, offering attractive targets for pharmacological therapies. In this work we examined the gene expression profiles in cortex, striatum, hippocampus and cerebellum of juvenile R6/1 and N171-82Q mice, two models of fast progressive HD, to retrieve the early transcriptional signatures associated with this pathology.These profiles showed significant coincidences with the transcriptional changes in the conditional knockout for the lysine acetyltransferase CBP in postmitotic forebrain neurons.
Project description:HD R6/1 transgenic mouse line brain hemispheres dissected. RNA targets were created for transgenics and wildtypes at time points 18, 22 and 27 weeks. Profiles and data analysis performed using the Bioconductor software and linear model contrasts using LIMMA on RMA probeset summarys. Keywords: timecourse
Project description:Huntington’s disease is a genetic disease caused by a single mutation. It is characterised by progressive movement, emotional and cognitive deficits. R6/2 transgenic mice carrying the Huntington’s disease mutation have a progressive neurological phenotype, including deterioration in cognitive function. The mechanism underlying the cognitive deficits in R6/2 mice is unknown, but dysregulated gene expression, reduced neurotransmitter levels and abnormal synaptic function are present before the cognitive decline becomes pronounced. Our goal here was to ameliorate the cognitive phenotype in R6/2 mice using a combination drug therapy (tacrine, moclobemide and creatine) aimed boosting neurotransmitter levels in the brain. Treatment from 5 weeks of age prevented deterioration in two different cognitive tasks until at least 12 weeks. However, motor deterioration continued unabated. Microarray analysis of global gene expression revealed that many genes significantly up- or down-regulated in untreated R6/2 mice had returned towards normal levels after treatment. Thus dysregulated gene expression was reversed by the combination treatment in the R6/2 mice and probably underlies the observed improvements in cognitive function. Our study shows that cognitive decline caused by a genetic mutation can be slowed by a combination drug treatment, and gives hope that cognitive symptoms in HD can be treated. Keywords = HD Keywords = Huntingtin Keywords = cognitive disorder Keywords = R6/2 Keywords = transgenic mice Keywords = gene expression Keywords = microarray Keywords: ordered
Project description:An exponentially growing culture of strain R6 in AGCH at OD620nm=0.4 was either non-treated or treated with two LVX concentrations: 0.125 ug/ml LVX (0.5x MIC of R6) and 2.5 ug/ml LVX (10x MIC of R6). Samples were taken before treatment (0 min), at 15, 30 and 60 min in the non-treated culture, and at 5, 15 ,30 and 60 min in the LVX treated cultures
Project description:We investigated miRNA expression profiles in R6/2 and wild-type mice. The results suggested that there was a difference in the expression of miRNAs between the mice.