Therapeutic Intervention of Aggregate Formation in Huntington's Disease: A Potential Role of Tissue Transglutaminase (tTG)

The cause of Huntington's disease (HD) is a pathological expansion of the polyglutamine domain within the N-terminal region of huntingtin. Neuronal aggregates composed of mutant huntingtin within certain neuronal populations are a characteristic hallmark of HD. Because tissue transglutaminase (tTG) cross-links proteins into aggregates and polypeptide-bound glutamines are primary determining factors for tTG-catalyzed reactions, it has been hypothesized that tTG may contribute to the formation of aggregates. (omitted)