Dissecting the role of DNA Ligase 1 in Huntington's disease

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Huntington’s disease (HD) is a devastating and fatal neurodegenerative disorder caused by the expansion of a polymorphic CAG repeat in the HTT gene. Although the underlying genetic mutation was discovered over 25 years ago, there is still no cure or effective treatment despite extensive efforts. The CAG repeat mutation undergoes time- and CAG length-dependent somatic expansion and recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) support somatic CAG expansion as the first step of the pathogenic process, required to elicit cellular toxicity and ultimately clinical disease. GWAS identified several genes involved in DNA repair as modifiers of age of onset, among which is LIG1, encoding DNA ligase 1. The biological function of DNA ligase 1 implicates it in somatic CAG expansion, however this gene may also alter processes that impact on cellular toxicity. Overall, the mechanistic underpinnings of disease modification remain obscure. Independent LIG1 modifier chromosomes can be distinguished in the human genetic data: one, tagged by a predicted deleterious SNP encoding a K854N substitution, is onset-delaying, while another is associated with increased LIG1 expression and is onset-hastening. In this study, we will perform experiments to test hypotheses rooted in human genetic data to understand the functional consequences of these LIG1 modifier effects. In Aim 1 we will use a knock-in mouse model of HD to test the impact of the K>N substitution mutation introduced into the mouse Lig1 gene, and to test the impact of Lig1 upregulation, on somatic CAG expansion and phenotypic expression. In Aim 2 we will use HD patient-derived and isogenic neuronal progenitor cells and neurons harboring LIG1 modifier alleles to identify their cellular and molecular consequences and to test their impacts on phenotypes elicited by the HTT mutation. In Aim 3 we will perform biochemical, structural and functional analyses of the LIG1 K845N variant. Together, these experiments will provide novel insight into mechanisms by which genetic variation in LIG1 modifies disease in patients, ultimately revealing therapeutic avenues that can be pursued for disease- modifying treatments.