Huntingtons disease (HD) is a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disorder that results in hyperkinesia. One of the issues that occurs as a result of Huntingons's is deficits in axonal transport. For Example, mutations in the huntingtin (Htt) gene result in the loss of anterograde transport of organelles such as mitochondria. Among their many functions, mitochondria are thought to sequester Ca2+ ions. You are working with an animal model of HD. You are recording the responses of neurons receiving synaptic inputs of cells in normal tissue and HD tissue. You note that these responses occur 3-5x more often in the HD tissue than that of normal tissue. Propose a mechansim wherein the Htt mutation could produce this increase in the responses of the HD neurons.
Huntingtons disease (HD) is a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disorder that results in hyperkinesia. One of the issues that occurs as a result of Huntingons's is deficits in axonal transport. For Example, mutations in the huntingtin (Htt) gene result in the loss of anterograde transport of organelles such as mitochondria. Among their many functions, mitochondria are thought to sequester Ca2+ ions. You are working with an animal model of HD. You are recording the responses of neurons receiving synaptic inputs of cells in normal tissue and HD tissue. You note that these responses occur 3-5x more often in the HD tissue than that of normal tissue. Propose a mechansim wherein the Htt mutation could produce this increase in the responses of the HD neurons.
