Open AccessAstrocytes and Huntington’s Disease
Author(s) -
Baljit S. Khakh,
Michael V. Sofroniew
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
acs chemical neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.158
H-Index - 69
ISSN - 1948-7193
DOI - 10.1021/cn500100r
Subject(s) - astrocyte , huntington's disease , neuroscience , potassium channel , disease , homeostasis , biology , mechanism (biology) , in vivo , medicine , central nervous system , microbiology and biotechnology , endocrinology , philosophy , epistemology
In this Viewpoint, we summarize and discuss the recent serendipitous discovery of an astrocyte Kir4.1 potassium channel dysfunction in two mouse models of Huntington's disease (HD). Restoration of Kir4.1 channels within astrocytes in vivo attenuated neuronal dysfunction, some aspects of motor dysfunction and increased survival time in a HD mouse model. Overall, the data show that aspects of altered neuronal excitability associated with HD may be secondary to changes in astrocyte-mediated K(+) homeostasis, thereby revealing a new striatal neural microcircuit mechanism in HD, and Kir4.1 channels and astrocytes as potential therapeutic targets for drug development.