Regional and cellular gene expression changes in human Huntington's disease brain

Huntington's disease (HD) pathology is well understood at a histological level but a comprehensive molecular analysis of the effect of the disease in the human brain has not previously been available. To elucidate the molecular phenotype of HD on a genome-wide scale, we compared mRNA profiles from 44 human HD brains with those from 36 unaffected controls using microarray analysis. Four brain regions were analyzed: caudate nucleus, cerebellum, prefrontal association cortex [Brodmann's area 9 (BA9)] and motor cortex [Brodmann's area 4 (BA4)]. The greatest number and magnitude of differentially expressed mRNAs were detected in the caudate nucleus, followed by motor cortex, then cerebellum. Thus, the molecular…

• NS
  National Science Foundation
• HD
  Hereditary Disease Foundation
• MG
  Massachusetts General Hospital
• CH
  Cure Huntington's Disease Initiative
• NF
  Novartis Foundation
• PG
  Parc Geneteg Cymru
• CU
  Cardiff University
• SN
  Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
• NI
  National Institutes of Health
• DF
  Directorate for Biological Sciences
• MR
  Medical Research Council
• HR
  Health Research Council of New Zealand