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Huntington disease models and human neuropathology: similarities and differences

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Abstract

Huntington disease (HD) occurs only in humans. Thus, its natural pathogenesis takes place exclusively within the human brains expressing the causative, mutated protein huntingtin (mhtt). The techniques applicable to postmortem human HD brains are inadequate for investigating the cellular pathogenesis. The creation of genetically engineered animals represents a critical moment in neuroscience. Monitoring the actions of either normal, or abnormal proteins at subcellular levels, and at different time points is now possible thanks to these models. They are the necessary substitutes to investigate the wild type (whtt), or mhtt. The postmortem neuropathologic phenotype of the human HD is well documented. Its pattern and spectrum are highly predictable. From this point of view, the existent models do not exhibit the phenotypic constellation of changes seen in the human HD brains. On one hand, this deficit reflects the limitations of the methods of evaluation used in a clinical setting. On the other hand, it highlights the limitations of the animals. The validity of the models probably should be measured by their capacity of reproducing the cellular dysfunctions of HD rather than the phenotype of the postmortem human brains. Although not perfect, these models are essential for modeling the human disease in cells, which is not feasible with postmortem human HD brains. Nonetheless, their relevance to the patient population remains to be determined. Ultimately needed are means preventing the disease to occur, the discovery of which probably depends on these models.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and National Institute on Aging: P01-AG07232, R37-AG15473, and P50-AG08702, the Hereditary Disease Foundation, and the Iseman Fund. The author is grateful to Lisle Merriman for her editorial support, and to Mkeba Cason, Etty Cortes, M.D., and Katerina Mancevska for their help. The New York Brain Bank (NYBB) is especially thankful to the numerous pathologists who referred case material, and to the families of the patients for providing brain tissue for research.

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Correspondence to Jean Paul G. Vonsattel.

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In memory of the Late Dr. Milton Wexler PhD, founder of the Hereditary Disease Foundation.

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Vonsattel, J.P.G. Huntington disease models and human neuropathology: similarities and differences. Acta Neuropathol 115, 55–69 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00401-007-0306-6

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