Abstract
Cognitive deficits and impaired olfactory function are observed in early stages of Huntington's disease (HD). The polysialylated form of the neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM) is strongly associated with plastic events in the brain. During adulthood, it is most abundantly expressed in the hippocampus and the piriform cortex, which are involved in cognition and olfaction, respectively. We show that the numbers of PSA-NCAM-positive cells in the hippocampus and piriform cortex are dramatically reduced in the R6/1 and the R6/2 mouse models of HD. We hypothesize that the decrease in NCAM polysialylation reflects an impaired plasticity and might underlie some of the early symptoms in HD.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Animals
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Disease Models, Animal
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Hippocampus / metabolism*
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Hippocampus / pathology
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Humans
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Huntingtin Protein
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Huntington Disease / genetics*
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Huntington Disease / metabolism*
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Huntington Disease / pathology
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Mice
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Mice, Transgenic
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Nerve Tissue Proteins / genetics*
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Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule L1 / metabolism*
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Neurons / metabolism
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Neurons / pathology
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Nuclear Proteins / genetics*
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Olfactory Pathways / metabolism*
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Olfactory Pathways / pathology
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Sialic Acids / metabolism*
Substances
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HTT protein, human
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Huntingtin Protein
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Nerve Tissue Proteins
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Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule L1
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Nuclear Proteins
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Sialic Acids
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polysialyl neural cell adhesion molecule