A human single-chain Fv intrabody preferentially targets amino-terminal Huntingtin's fragments in striatal models of Huntington's disease

Neurobiol Dis. 2005 Jun-Jul;19(1-2):47-56. doi: 10.1016/j.nbd.2004.11.003.

Abstract

Amino-terminal fragments of huntingtin (htt) appear to result from proteolytic processing of the full-length protein in Huntington's disease (HD), and fragments containing pathological expansions of polyglutamine elicit toxicity in model systems. Such fragments are sequestered into insoluble aggregates, which may initially serve a cellular protective mechanism, while soluble fragments and/or oligomers may be a more acute toxic species. Agents which enhance mutant htt clearance have shown therapeutic potential in animal models of HD. Here, we present the first evidence of an htt-specific single-chain Fv intrabody (C4) that selectively targets the soluble fraction of amino-terminal htt fragments. Our findings suggest that the C4 intrabody binds weakly, but does not alter the levels of endogenous, full-length htt. C4 appears to decrease the steady-state levels of amino-terminal htt fragments by binding to non-aggregated, but not aggregated, htt species. Intrabodies may be used as potential curative agents, and as drug discovery tools, for HD and other misfolded protein disorders.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Binding Sites, Antibody
  • Cell Line
  • Corpus Striatum / drug effects
  • Corpus Striatum / metabolism*
  • Female
  • Gene Targeting / methods*
  • Humans
  • Huntingtin Protein
  • Huntington Disease / drug therapy
  • Huntington Disease / genetics
  • Huntington Disease / metabolism*
  • Immunoglobulin Fragments / pharmacology*
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins / genetics
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins / metabolism*
  • Nuclear Proteins / genetics
  • Nuclear Proteins / metabolism*

Substances

  • HTT protein, human
  • Htt protein, mouse
  • Huntingtin Protein
  • Immunoglobulin Fragments
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins
  • Nuclear Proteins
  • immunoglobulin Fv