Investigating the Structural Impact of the Glutamine Repeat in Huntingtin Assembly

Acquiring detailed structural information about the various aggregation states of the huntingtin-exon1 protein (Htt-exon1) is crucial not only for identifying the true nature of the neurotoxic species responsible for Huntington’s disease (HD) but also for designing effective therapeutics. Using time-resolved small-angle neutron scattering (TR-SANS), we followed the conformational changes that occurred during fibrillization of the pathologic form of Htt-exon1 (NtQ42P10) and compared the results with those obtained for the wild-type (NtQ22P10). Our results show that the aggregation pathway of NtQ22P10 is very different from that of NtQ42P10, as the initial steps require a monomer to 7-mer transition stage. In contrast, the earliest species identified for NtQ42P10 are monomer and dimer. The divergent pathways ultimately result in NtQ22P10 fibrils that possess a packing arrangement consistent with the common amyloid sterical zipper model, whereas NtQ42P10 fibrils present a better fit to the Perutz β-helix structural model. The structural details obtained by TR-SANS should help to delineate the key mechanisms that underpin Htt-exon1 aggregation leading to HD.