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Updated: May 11, 2026

Efficient and Scalable Production of Full-length Human Huntingtin Variants in Mammalian Cells using a Transient Expression System
Published on: December 10, 2021
Candidate glutamatergic and dopaminergic pathway gene variants do not influence Huntington's disease motor onset
Eliana Marisa Ramos1, Jeanne C Latourelle, Tammy Gillis
1Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Simches Research Building, Room 5414, 185 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
Abstract:
Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor, cognitive, and behavioral disturbances. It is caused by the expansion of the HTT CAG repeat, which is the major determinant of age at onset (AO) of motor symptoms. Aberrant function of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors and/or overexposure to dopamine has been suggested to cause significant neurotoxicity, contributing to HD pathogenesis. We used genetic association analysis in 1,628 HD patients to evaluate candidate polymorphisms in N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor subtype genes (GRIN2A rs4998386 and rs2650427, and GRIN2B rs1806201) and functional polymorphisms in genes in the dopamine pathway (DAT1 3' UTR 40-bp variable number tandem repeat (VNTR), DRD4 exon 3 48-bp VNTR, DRD2 rs1800497, and COMT rs4608) as potential modifiers of the disease process. None of the seven polymorphisms tested was found to be associated with significant modification of motor AO, either in a dominant or additive model, after adjusting for ancestry. The results of this candidate-genetic study therefore do not provide strong evidence to support a modulatory role for these variations within glutamatergic and dopaminergic genes in the AO of HD motor manifestations.
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