UVB irradiation-induced apoptosis increased in lymphocytes of Huntington'sdisease patients

Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant: neurodegenerative disor der caused by CAG repeat expansion in the IT-15 gene coding for huntingtin. The mechanism of neuronal degeneration induced by the mutant huntingtin is not known. Apoptosis may play a role in it. Huntingtin is widely expressed in the cells, so abnormalities can be expected also in nonneural tissue. W e examined the susceptibility of lymphocytes from HD patients, asymptomatic carriers and normal individuals to UVB irradiation-induced apoptosis. Lymp hocytes from eight HD patients and two asymptomatic carriers showed increas ed apoptotic cell death compared to controls. Our results suggests that sen sitivity of HD cells to induced apoptosis is not restricted to neurons. Neu roReport 12:1653-1656 (C) 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.