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Detection of DNA Double-Stranded Breaks in Mouse Oocytes
Published on: June 23, 2023
WWOX contributes to DNA damage, but not somatic instability in Huntington's disease
Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
|July 3, 2026
Summary
Huntington's disease (HD) involves DNA damage, but the ATM pathway is not involved. Instead, WW domain-containing oxidoreductase (WWOX) increases DNA damage in HD, independent of ATM signaling.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Genetics
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by CAG repeat expansion in the huntingtin (HTT) gene.
- DNA damage and impaired DNA repair pathways are implicated in HD pathogenesis.
- The ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) signaling pathway is crucial for genomic stability and DNA damage repair (DDR).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of the ATM-ITCH-WW domain-containing oxidoreductase (WWOX) signaling pathway in Huntington's disease.
- To determine if WWOX contributes to DNA damage observed in HD.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of post-mortem prefrontal cortex (PFC) from HD patients and controls.
- Treatment of human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells with HD PFC lysates.
- Assessment of DNA damage markers like phosphorylated ATM (pATM-S1981) and phosphorylated H2AX (γ-H2AX).
- WWOX manipulation (overexpression, recombinant protein treatment, immuno-depletion) in cell models.
Main Results:
- No significant alterations in ATM or ITCH levels were found in HD PFC.
- HD PFC lysates increased γ-H2AX in SH-SY5Y cells, indicating DNA double-strand breaks, independent of ATM activation.
- WWOX levels were elevated in HD PFC and HD neurons.
- WWOX increased γ-H2AX levels, and its depletion reduced DNA damage induced by HD PFC lysates.
- WWOX overexpression did not affect CAG repeat instability in RPE1-AAVS1-CAG115 cells.
Conclusions:
- WW domain-containing oxidoreductase (WWOX) contributes to DNA damage in Huntington's disease.
- WWOX-mediated DNA damage in HD occurs independently of the ATM signaling pathway.
- These findings highlight WWOX as a potential therapeutic target for managing DNA damage in HD.
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