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Published on: January 4, 2018
Full-length huntingtin levels modulate body weight by influencing insulin-like growth factor 1 expression
Mahmoud A Pouladi1, Yuanyun Xie, Niels Henning Skotte
1Department of Medical Genetics, Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, and Child and Family Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada V5Z 4H4.
Abstract:
Levels of full-length huntingtin (FL htt) influence organ and body weight, independent of polyglutamine length. The growth hormone-insulin like growth factor-1 (GH-IGF-1) axis is well established as a regulator of organ growth and body weight. In this study, we investigate the involvement of the IGF-1 pathway in mediating the effect of htt on body weight. IGF-1 expression was examined in transgenic mouse lines expressing different levels of FL wild-type (WT) htt (YAC18 mice), FL mutant htt (YAC128 and BACHD mice) and truncated mutant htt (shortstop mice). We demonstrate that htt influences body weight by modulating the IGF-1 pathway. Plasma IGF-1 levels correlate with body weight and htt levels in the transgenic YAC mice expressing human htt. The effect of htt on IGF-1 expression is independent of CAG size. No effect on body weight is observed in transgenic YAC mice expressing a truncated N-terminal htt fragment (shortstop), indicating that FL htt is required for the modulation of IGF-1 expression. Treatment with 17beta-estradiol (17beta-ED) lowers the levels of circulating IGF-1 in mammals. Treatment of YAC128 with 17beta-ED, but not placebo, reduces plasma IGF-1 levels and decreases the body weight of YAC128 animals to WT levels. Furthermore, given the ubiquitous expression of IGF-1 within the central nervous system, we also examined the impact of FL htt levels on IGF-1 expression in different regions of the brain, including the striatum, cerebellum of YAC18, YAC128 and littermate WT mice. We demonstrate that the levels of FL htt influence IGF-1 expression in striatal tissues. Our data identify a novel function for FL htt in influencing IGF-1 expression.
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