The threshold for polyglutamine-expansion protein aggregation and cellular toxicity is dynamic and influenced by aging in Caenorhabditis elegans

Studies of the mutant gene in Huntington's disease, and for eight related neurodegenerative disorders, have identified polyglutamine (polyQ) expansions as a basis for cellular toxicity. This finding has led to a disease hypothesis that protein aggregation and cellular dysfunction can occur at a threshold of approximately 40 glutamine residues. Here, we test this hypothesis by expression of fluorescently tagged polyQ proteins (Q29, Q33, Q35, Q40, and Q44) in the body wall muscle cells of Caenorhabditis elegans and show that young adults exhibit a sharp boundary at 35-40 glutamines associated with the appearance of protein aggregates and loss of motility. Surprisingly, genetically identical animals expressing…

• HD
  Hereditary Disease Foundation
• NU
  Northwestern University
• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Award: T32 GM08061
• NI
  National Institute of General Medical Sciences

  Awards: T32 GM08061, GM08061