Early epigenomic and transcriptional changes reveal Elk-1 transcription factor as a therapeutic target in Huntington’s disease

Archive ouverte

Yildirim, Ferah | Ng, Christopher, W | Kappes, Vincent | Ehrenberger, Tobias | Rigby, Siobhan, K | Stivanello, Victoria | Gipson, Theresa, A | Soltis, Anthony, R | Vanhoutte, Peter | Caboche, Jocelyne | Housman, David, E | Fraenkel, Ernest

Edité par CCSD ; National Academy of Sciences -

International audience. Huntington's disease (HD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder characterized by a late clinical onset despite ubiquitous expression of the mutant Huntingtin gene (HTT) from birth. Transcriptional dysregulation is a pivotal feature of HD. Yet, the genes that are altered in the prodromal period and their regulators, which present opportunities for therapeutic intervention, remain to be elucidated. Using transcriptional and chromatin profiling, we found aberrant transcription and changes in histone H3K27acetylation in the striatum of R6/1 mice during the presymptomatic disease stages. Integrating these data, we identified the Elk-1 transcription factor as a candidate regulator of prodromal changes in HD. Exogenous expression of Elk-1 exerted beneficial effects in a primary striatal cell culture model of HD, and adeno-associated virus-mediated Elk-1 overexpression alleviated transcriptional dysregulation in R6/1 mice. Collectively, our work demonstrates that aberrant gene expression precedes overt disease onset in HD, identifies the Elk-1 transcription factor as a key regulator linked to early epigenetic and transcriptional changes in HD, and presents evidence for Elk-1 as a target for alleviating molecular pathology in HD.

Suggestions

Du même auteur

Early epigenomic and transcriptional changes reveal Elk-1 transcription factor as a therapeutic target in Huntington’s disease

Archive ouverte | Yildirim, Ferah | CCSD

International audience

A TAT–DEF–Elk-1 Peptide Regulates the Cytonuclear Trafficking of Elk-1 and Controls Cytoskeleton Dynamics

Archive ouverte | Lavaur, Jérémie | CCSD

The transcription factor Elk-1 plays a key role in cell differentiation, proliferation and apoptosis. This role is thought to arise from its phosphorylation by activated extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs), a critical po...

Alterations of Molecular and Behavioral Responses to Cocaine by Selective Inhibition of Elk-1 Phosphorylation

Archive ouverte | Besnard, Antoine | CCSD

Activation of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling pathway in the striatum is crucial for molecular adaptations and long-term behavioral alterations induced by cocaine. In response to cocaine, ERK controls the...

Chargement des enrichissements...