Chemotherapy for the brain: the antitumor antibiotic mithramycin prolongs survival in a mouse model of Huntington's disease. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • Huntington's disease (HD) is a fully penetrant autosomal-dominant inherited neurological disorder caused by expanded CAG repeats in the Huntingtin gene. Transcriptional dysfunction, excitotoxicity, and oxidative stress have all been proposed to play important roles in the pathogenesis of HD. This study was designed to explore the therapeutic potential of mithramycin, a clinically approved guanosine-cytosine-rich DNA binding antitumor antibiotic. Pharmacological treatment of a transgenic mouse model of HD (R6/2) with mithramycin extended survival by 29.1%, greater than any single agent reported to date. Increased survival was accompanied by improved motor performance and markedly delayed neuropathological sequelae. To identify the functional mechanism for the salubrious effects of mithramycin, we examined transcriptional dysfunction in R6/2 mice. Consistent with transcriptional repression playing a role in the pathogenesis of HD, we found increased methylation of lysine 9 in histone H3, a well established mechanism of gene silencing. Mithramycin treatment prevented the increase in H3 methylation observed in R6/2 mice, suggesting that the enhanced survival and neuroprotection might be attributable to the alleviation of repressed gene expression vital to neuronal function and survival. Because it is Food and Drug Administration-approved, mithramycin is a promising drug for the treatment of HD.

publication date

  • November 17, 2004

Research

keywords

  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic
  • Huntington Disease
  • Plicamycin

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC2577231

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 20844455450

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2599-04.2004

PubMed ID

  • 15548647

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 24

issue

  • 46