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A novel pathogenic pathway of immune activation detectable before clinical onset in Huntington's disease

Bjorkqvist, M; Wild, EJ; Thiele, J; Silvestroni, A; Andre, R; Lahiri, N; Raibon, E; ... Tabrizi, SJ; + view all (2008) A novel pathogenic pathway of immune activation detectable before clinical onset in Huntington's disease. Journal of Experimental Medicine , 205 (8) 1869 - 1877. 10.1084/jem.20080178. Green open access

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Abstract

Huntington's disease (HD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disorder characterized by both neurological and systemic abnormalities. We examined the peripheral immune system and found widespread evidence of innate immune activation detectable in plasma throughout the course of HD. Interleukin 6 levels were increased in HD gene carriers with a mean of 16 years before the predicted onset of clinical symptoms. To our knowledge, this is the earliest plasma abnormality identified in HD. Monocytes from HD subjects expressed mutant huntingtin and were pathologically hyperactive in response to stimulation, suggesting that the mutant protein triggers a cell-autonomous immune activation. A similar pattern was seen in macrophages and microglia from HD mouse models, and the cerebrospinal fluid and striatum of HD patients exhibited abnormal immune activation, suggesting that immune dysfunction plays a role in brain pathology. Collectively, our data suggest parallel central nervous system and peripheral pathogenic pathways of immune activation in HD.

Type: Article
Title: A novel pathogenic pathway of immune activation detectable before clinical onset in Huntington's disease
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1084/jem.20080178
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1084/jem.20080178
Language: English
Additional information: © 2008 Björkqvist et al. This article is distributed under the terms of an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike–No Mirror Sites license for the first six months after the publication date (see http://www.jem.org/misc/terms.shtml). After six months it is available under a Creative Commons License (Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported license, as described at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/).
Keywords: In mouse model, Glial-cells, Microglial activation, Mutant huntingtin, Transgenic mice, Brain, Expression, Gene, HD, Contributes
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Institute of Prion Diseases
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Institute of Prion Diseases > UCL Institute of Prion Diseases Support
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology > Neurodegenerative Diseases
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Cancer Institute
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Cancer Institute > Research Department of Haematology
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/143067
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