Selective striatal neuron loss and alterations in behavior correlate with impaired striatal function in Huntington's disease transgenic rats

Orsolya Kántor; Yasin Temel; Carsten Holzmann; Kerstin Raber; Huu-Phuc Nguyen; Chunyan Cao; Hatice Özen Türkoglu; Bart P.F. Rutten; Veerle Visser-Vandewalle; Harry W.M. Steinbusch; Arjan Blokland; Hubert Korr; Olaf Riess; Stephan von Hörsten; Christoph Schmitz

Neurobiology of Disease (Jun 2006)

Selective striatal neuron loss and alterations in behavior correlate with impaired striatal function in Huntington's disease transgenic rats

Orsolya Kántor,
Yasin Temel,
Carsten Holzmann,
Kerstin Raber,
Huu-Phuc Nguyen,
Chunyan Cao,
Hatice Özen Türkoglu,
Bart P.F. Rutten,
Veerle Visser-Vandewalle,
Harry W.M. Steinbusch,
Arjan Blokland,
Hubert Korr,
Olaf Riess,
Stephan von Hörsten,
Christoph Schmitz

Affiliations

Orsolya Kántor: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, RWTH Aachen University, Wendlingweg 2, 52074 Aachen, Germany; European Graduate School of Neuroscience (EURON), P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands
Yasin Temel: European Graduate School of Neuroscience (EURON), P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Division of Cellular Neuroscience, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands; Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Maastricht, P.O. Box 5800, 6202 AZ Maastricht, The Netherlands
Carsten Holzmann: Department of Medical Genetics, Children's Hospital, University of Rostock, Rembrandtstr. 16/17 18057 Rostock, Germany
Kerstin Raber: Department of Functional and Applied Anatomy, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany
Huu-Phuc Nguyen: Department of Functional and Applied Anatomy, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany
Chunyan Cao: European Graduate School of Neuroscience (EURON), P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Division of Cellular Neuroscience, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands
Hatice Özen Türkoglu: European Graduate School of Neuroscience (EURON), P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Division of Cellular Neuroscience, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands
Bart P.F. Rutten: European Graduate School of Neuroscience (EURON), P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Division of Cellular Neuroscience, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands
Veerle Visser-Vandewalle: European Graduate School of Neuroscience (EURON), P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Division of Cellular Neuroscience, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands; Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Maastricht, P.O. Box 5800, 6202 AZ Maastricht, The Netherlands
Harry W.M. Steinbusch: European Graduate School of Neuroscience (EURON), P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Division of Cellular Neuroscience, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands
Arjan Blokland: European Graduate School of Neuroscience (EURON), P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands; Department of Neurocognition, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands
Hubert Korr: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, RWTH Aachen University, Wendlingweg 2, 52074 Aachen, Germany; European Graduate School of Neuroscience (EURON), P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Division of Cellular Neuroscience, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands
Olaf Riess: Department of Medical Genetics, University of Tübingen, Calwer Str. 7, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
Stephan von Hörsten: Department of Functional and Applied Anatomy, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg Str. 1, 30625 Hannover, Germany
Christoph Schmitz: European Graduate School of Neuroscience (EURON), P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Division of Cellular Neuroscience, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands; Corresponding author. Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Division of Cellular Neuroscience, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. Fax: +31 43 367 1096.

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 22, no. 3
pp. 538 – 547

Abstract

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Huntington's disease (HD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disorder characterized by selective striatal neuron loss and motor, cognitive and affective disturbances. The present study aimed to test the hypothesis of adult-onset neuron loss in striatum and frontal cortical layer V as well as alterations in behavior pointing to impaired striatal function in a recently developed transgenic rat model of HD (tgHD rats) exhibiting enlarged ventricles, striatal atrophy and pycnotic pyramidal cells in frontal cortical layer V. High-precision design-based stereological analysis revealed a reduced mean total number of neurons in the striatum but not in frontal cortical layer V of 12-month-old tgHD rats compared with age-matched wild-type controls. No alterations in mean total numbers of striatal neurons were found in 6-month-old animals. Testing 14-month-old animals in a choice reaction time task indicated impaired striatal function of tgHD rats compared with controls.

Published in Neurobiology of Disease

ISSN: 0969-9961 (Print); 1095-953X (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Medicine: Internal medicine: Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Website: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/neurobiology-of-disease

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