Evidence for glutamate excitotoxicity that occurs before the onset of striatal cell loss and motor symptoms in an ovine Huntington’s Disease model

Background Huntington’s disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative genetic disorder caused by an expansion in the CAG repeat tract of the huntingtin ( HTT ) gene resulting in a triad of behavioural, cognitive, and motor defects. Current knowledge of disease pathogenesis remains incomplete, and no disease course-modifying interventions are in clinical use. We have previously reported the development and characterisation of the OVT73 transgenic sheep model of HD. OVT73 captures an early prodromal phase of the disease with an absence of motor symptomatology even at 5-years of age and no detectable striatal cell loss. Methods To better understand the disease-initiating events we have undertaken a single nuclei transcriptome study of the striatum of an extensively studied cohort of 5-year-old OVT73 HD sheep and age matched wild-type controls. Results We have identified transcriptional upregulation of genes encoding N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) and kainate receptors in OVT73 medium spiny neurons, the cell type preferentially lost early in HD. This observation supports the glutamate excitotoxicity hypothesis as an early neurodegeneration cascade-initiating process. Moreover, we also observed the downstream consequences of excitotoxic stress, including a downregulation of transcription of components for the oxidative phosphorylation complexes. We also found that pathways whose activity has been proposed to reduce excitotoxicity, including the CREB family of transcription factors ( CREB1 , ATF2, ATF4 and ATF7 ) were transcriptionally downregulated. Conclusions To our knowledge, the OVT73 model is the first large mammalian HD model that exhibits transcriptomic signatures of an excitotoxic process in the absence of neuronal loss. Our results suggest that glutamate excitotoxicity is a disease-initiating process. Addressing this biochemical defect early may prevent neuronal loss and avoid the more complex secondary consequences precipitated by cell death. ### Competing Interest Statement J.F.G. was a founder and scientific advisory board member with a financial interest in Triplet Therapeutics Inc. His NIH-funded project is using genetic and genomic approaches to uncover other genes that significantly influence when diagnosable symptoms emerge and how rapidly they worsen in Huntington's disease. The company was developing new therapeutic approaches to address triplet repeat disorders such Huntington's disease, myotonic dystrophy and spinocerebellar ataxias. His interests were reviewed and are managed by Massachusetts General Hospital and Mass General Brigham in accordance with their conflict of interest policies. J.F.G. has also been a consultant for Wave Life Sciences USA Inc., Biogen Inc. and Pfizer Inc. All other authors have declared that they have no competing interests.