Stimulating NeuroD: Turning on a Transcription Factor for Nerve Cell Maintenance
NeuroD (ND) is a transcription factor that is important in the development and survival of nerve cells. Researchers recently identified two proteins associated with the wild-type (normal) huntingtin protein. These proteins, called HAP1 and MLK2, work together to stimulate ND. Huntingtin interacts with ND through HAP1, and MLK2 stimulates ND through another chemical reaction. Huntingtin and HAP1 can also act on ND through MLK2. Interestingly, ND is the first known nerve cell-specific transcription factor that is influenced by huntingtin. In other words, huntingtin acts as a filter for the activity of ND.
The main finding of this experiment was that huntingtin and HAP1 act as a “scaffold” for stimulating ND through MLK2. In other words, the protein huntingtin and its protein cohort, HAP1, cause the protein MLK2 to stimulate ND, which helps the nerve cells develop and survive. The discovery of the relationship between ND, HAP1, MLK2, and huntingtin may prove valuable in developing drugs that regulate their activity. Since huntingtin does not work properly in some nerve cells in people with Huntington’s disease, new treatments may be able to stimulate ND in the absence of functional huntingtin.
An educational product of HOPES, not to be used in place of medical care. For more information about HOPES, click on the Logo.
To contact HOPES with comments or questions, click here.
