Mutant Huntingtin Derails Cysteine Metabolism in Huntington's Disease at Both Transcriptional and Post-Translational Levels

Bindu D Paul; Juan I Sbodio; Solomon H Snyder

doi:10.3390/antiox11081470

Mutant Huntingtin Derails Cysteine Metabolism in Huntington's Disease at Both Transcriptional and Post-Translational Levels

Antioxidants (Basel). 2022 Jul 27;11(8):1470. doi: 10.3390/antiox11081470.

Authors

Bindu D Paul^{1

2

3

4}, Juan I Sbodio³, Solomon H Snyder^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
² Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
³ The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
⁴ Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.

Abstract

Cysteine is a semi-essential amino acid that not only plays an essential role as a component of protein synthesis, but also in the generation of numerous sulfur-containing molecules such as the antioxidant glutathione and coenzyme A. We previously showed that the metabolism of cysteine is dysregulated in Huntington's disease (HD), a neurodegenerative disorder triggered by the expansion of polyglutamine repeats in the protein huntingtin. In this study, we showed that cysteine metabolism is compromised at multiple levels in HD, both transcriptional and post-translational. Accordingly, restoring cysteine homeostasis may be beneficial in HD.

Keywords: Huntington’s disease; cystathionine γ-lyase; cysteine; transsulfuration.

Abstract

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