Traffic signaling: new functions of huntingtin and axonal transport in neurological disease

H Vitet, V Brandt, F Saudou - Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 2020 - Elsevier
H Vitet, V Brandt, F Saudou
Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 2020Elsevier
Highlights•Subtle changes in axonal transport can modulate protein accumulation at the
synapse.•The huntingtin mutation underlying Huntington's disease disrupts axonal
transport.•Huntingtin (HTT) scaffolds/transports many key neuronal proteins, including
BDNF.•Post-translational modifications in HTT regulate direction and speed of
transport.•Tweaking HTT-mediated transport could help in Rett Syndrome and Alzheimer's
disease.Over the past twenty years there have been numerous advances in our …
Highlights
  • Subtle changes in axonal transport can modulate protein accumulation at the synapse.
  • The huntingtin mutation underlying Huntington’s disease disrupts axonal transport.
  • Huntingtin (HTT) scaffolds/transports many key neuronal proteins, including BDNF.
  • Post-translational modifications in HTT regulate direction and speed of transport.
  • Tweaking HTT-mediated transport could help in Rett Syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease.
Over the past twenty years there have been numerous advances in our understanding of Huntington’s disease (HD) and other neurodegenerative proteopathies such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. In each case, disease-specific proteins are expressed and accumulate; what has been less clear is precisely what problems are caused by the accumulation. Recently we have begun to appreciate that increased protein levels or changes in the ratios of different isoforms affect the movement of molecules along the axon, thereby disrupting neuronal function. Huntingtin, the protein involved in HD, plays a special role in axonal transport, and very recent studies have found that its activity—and the movement of its cargoes—is altered not only in HD but in other neurological diseases. Here, we contextualize these studies and consider how modulating huntingtin activity could provide new avenues to therapy.
Elsevier