Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0004134 (ataxia)
 15,886 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Identifying modifiers of dosage-sensitive genes involved in neurodegenerative disorders is imperative to discover novel genetic risk factors and potential therapeutic entry points. In this study, we focus on Ataxin-1 (ATXN1), a dosage-sensitive gene involved in the neurodegenerative disease spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1). While the precise maintenance of ATXN1 levels is essential to prevent disease, the mechanisms that regulate ATXN1 expression remain largely unknown. We demonstrate that ATXN1's unusually long 5' untranslated region (5' UTR) negatively regulates its expression via posttranscriptional mechanisms. Based on recent reports that microRNAs (miRNAs) can interact with both 3' and 5' UTRs to regulate their target genes, we identify miR760 as a negative regulator that binds to a conserved site in ATXN1's 5' UTR to induce RNA degradation and translational inhibition. We found that delivery of Adeno-associated virus (AAV)-expressing miR760 in the cerebellum reduces ATXN1 levels in vivo and mitigates motor coordination deficits in a mouse model of SCA1. These findings provide new insights into the regulation of ATXN1 levels, present additional evidence for miRNA-mediated gene regulation via 5' UTR binding, and raise the possibility that noncoding mutations in the ATXN1 locus may act as risk factors for yet to be discovered progressive ataxias.
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PMID:miR760 regulates ATXN1 levels via interaction with its 5' untranslated region. 3276 10

Pathomechanistic studies of neurodegenerative diseases have documented the toxic effects of mutant protein expression, misfolding, and aggregation. However, alterations in the expression of the corresponding wild-type (WT) gene, due to either variations in copy number or transcriptional regulation, have also been linked to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Another striking example of this mutant and WT duality is spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1) caused by an ATXN1 polyglutamine protein, although subtle variations in WT AXTN1 levels also lead to ataxia. In this issue of Genes & Development, Nitschke and colleagues (pp. 1147-1160) delve into posttranscriptional events that fine-tune ATXN1 expression and uncover a key role for 5' untranslated region (5' UTR)-miR760 interactions. Thus, this study not only provides significant insights into the complexities of modulating the expression of a dosage-sensitive gene but also highlights the critical importance of identifying noncoding polymorphisms as disease risk factors.
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PMID:UTteR control through miRs: fine-tuning ATXN1 levels to prevent ataxia. 3287 76


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