Modulation of neuronal atrophy in Huntington's disease

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Project Summary/Abstract Huntington’s disease (HD) is an autosomal-dominant neurodegenerative disease caused by a CAG triplet expansion mutation coding for glutamine in exon 1 of the Huntingtin (HTT) gene. Mutant HTT (mHTT) protein disrupts a number of molecular and cellular processes. The Ras-related Rho GTPases are molecular switches that regulate a number of processes, including cell proliferation, differentiation, migration, transcription, and actin dynamics. Long-term RhoA inactivation mediated by p190RhoGAP and a Rap-dependent RhoGAP (ARAP3) is essential for neurite outgrowth. In our preliminary studies using in vitro HD striatal cell lines and HD transgenic mice, we discovered striking abnormalities of the ARAP3-RhoA pathway that we found in human HD postmortem brain. Rho-GTPase activity was increased 24-fold in the striatal lysates of HD patients while ARAP3 (ArfGAP with RhoGAP Domain, ankyrin repeat and PH Domain 3), a negative regulator of RhoA, was significantly down regulated. ARAP3 overexpression in striatal cells restored neuronal size and function that were affected by a constitutively active mutant RhoA. Delivery of AAV-shRNA ARAP3 significantly exacerbated neuronal atrophy in the striatum of YAC128 mice. Based on these findings we propose a novel hypothesis that altered ARAP3 function and RhoA activity cause potentially reversible F-actin stress fiber formation and cytoskeletal disruption which in turn lead to neuronal atrophy and dysfunction in HD. To investigate whether impaired ARAP3-RhoA pathway underlies the cellular and molecular basis of neuronal atrophy that is reversible, we propose three specific aims: Aim 1: To investigate alteration of ARAP3 and RhoA levels in postmortem brains, transgenic animal models, and cell line models of HD. We will determine the spatiotemporal change of ARAP3, RhoA, and cytoskeleton structures in the striatum by using Western blot, qPCR, and confocal microscopy combined with 3-D reconstruction image analysis. Aim 2: To determine the relationship between ARAP3 and the RhoA pathway, and identify molecular and cellular mechanisms of neuronal atrophy in HD. We will use time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based RhoA biosensor and live cell imaging to identify how loss or gain of ARAP3 function affects the RhoA activity in HD striatal cells. Aim 3: To examine the in vivo effects of ARAP3 and RhoA on neuronal atrophy and function, motor activity, and survival in HD mouse models. We will perform cross sectional studies to determine the loss of ARAP3 function and the gain of RhoA function on motor symptoms and survival rates in HD mice. We will analyze F-actin stress fiber formation and DARPP32 activity in the striatal neurons of mice. We will further measure neuropathological changes such as neuronal size/number and mHTT aggregation. Our studies will identify novel molecular and cellular mechanisms of neuronal atrophy in the pathogenesis of HD and provide a therapeutic approach for HD.