BackgroundHuntington’s disease (HD) is an incurable hereditary neurodegenerative disorder, which manifests itself as a loss of GABAergic medium spiny (GABA MS) neurons in the striatum and caused by an expansion of the CAG repeat in exon 1 of the huntingtin gene. There is no cure for HD, existing pharmaceutical can only relieve its symptoms.ResultsHere, induced pluripotent stem cells were established from patients with low CAG repeat expansion in the huntingtin gene, and were then efficiently differentiated into GABA MS-like neurons (GMSLNs) under defined culture conditions. The generated HD GMSLNs recapitulated disease pathology in vitro, as evidenced by mutant huntingtin protein aggregation, increased number of lysosomes/autophagosomes, nuclear indentations, and enhanced neuronal death during cell aging. Moreover, store-operated channel (SOC) currents were detected in the differentiated neurons, and enhanced calcium entry was reproducibly demonstrated in all HD GMSLNs genotypes. Additionally, the quinazoline derivative, EVP4593, reduced the number of lysosomes/autophagosomes and SOC currents in HD GMSLNs and exerted neuroprotective effects during cell aging.ConclusionsOur data is the first to demonstrate the direct link of nuclear morphology and SOC calcium deregulation to mutant huntingtin protein expression in iPSCs-derived neurons with disease-mimetic hallmarks, providing a valuable tool for identification of candidate anti-HD drugs. Our experiments demonstrated that EVP4593 may be a promising anti-HD drug.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13024-016-0092-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2B (LGMD2B) and Miyoshi myopathy (MM) are autosomal recessive disorders caused by mutations in the dysferlin gene on chromosome 2p13. The authors studied a large Russian family with both LGMD2B and MM. All affected individuals, as well as one preclinical boy with dystrophic changes on muscle biopsy, were found to be homozygous for a novel dysferlin mutation, TG573/574AT (Val67Asp). This finding supports the view that additional factors (e.g., modifier genes) contribute to the phenotypic expression of causative mutations in dysferlinopathies.
A wide variety of mutations in the parkin gene, including exon deletions and duplications, as well as point mutations, result in autosomal recessive early-onset parkinsonism. Interestingly, several of these anomalies were found repeatedly in unrelated patients and may therefore result from recurrent, de novo mutational events or from founder effects. In the present study, haplotype analysis, using 10 microsatellite markers covering a 4.7-cM region known to contain the parkin gene, was performed in 48 families, mostly from European countries, with early-onset autosomal recessive parkinsonism. The patients carried 14 distinct mutations in the parkin gene, and each mutation was detected in more than one family. Our results support the hypothesis that exon rearrangements occurred independently, whereas some point mutations, found in families from different geographic origins, may have been transmitted by a common founder.
The addition of the neuropeptide carnosine (beta-alanyl-L-histidine) as a food additive to the basic protocol of Parkinson's disease treatment results in significant improvement of neurological symptoms, along with increase in red blood cell Cu/Zn-SOD and decrease in blood plasma protein carbonyls and lipid hydroperoxides, with no noticeable change in platelets MAO B activity. The combination of carnosine with basic therapy may be a useful way to increase efficiency of PD treatment.
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