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Updated: Aug 30, 2026

Single Synapse Indicators of Glutamate Release and Uptake in Acute Brain Slices from Normal and Huntington Mice
Published on: March 11, 2020
Huntington's disease: a synaptopathy?
Jia-Yi Li1, Markus Plomann, Patrik Brundin
1Section for Neuronal Survival, Wallenberg Neuroscience Center, Lund University, BMC A10, 221 84, Lund, Sweden
Abstract:
Huntington's disease (HD) is caused by a polyglutamine expansion in the protein huntingtin. In its terminal stage, HD is characterized by widespread neuronal death in the neocortex and the striatum. Classically, this neuronal death has been thought to underlie most of the symptoms of the disease. Accumulating evidence suggests, however, that cellular dysfunction is important in the pathogenesis of HD. We propose that specific impairment of the exocytosis and endocytosis machinery contributes to the development of HD. We also suggest that abnormal synaptic transmission underlies the early symptoms of HD and can contribute to the triggering of cell death in later stages of the disease.
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