Minocycline inhibits caspase-1 and caspase-3 expression and delays mortality in a transgenic mouse model of Huntington disease

M Chen, VO Ona, M Li, RJ Ferrante, KB Fink, S Zhu… - Nature medicine, 2000 - nature.com
M Chen, VO Ona, M Li, RJ Ferrante, KB Fink, S Zhu, J Bian, L Guo, LA Farrell, SM Hersch
Nature medicine, 2000nature.com
Huntington disease is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disease with no effective
treatment. Minocycline is a tetracycline derivative with proven safety. After ischemia,
minocycline inhibits caspase-1 and inducible nitric oxide synthetase upregulation, and
reduces infarction. As caspase-1 and nitric oxide seem to play a role in Huntington disease,
we evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of minocycline in the R6/2 mouse model of Huntington
disease. We report that minocycline delays disease progression, inhibits caspase-1 and …
Abstract
Huntington disease is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disease with no effective treatment. Minocycline is a tetracycline derivative with proven safety. After ischemia, minocycline inhibits caspase-1 and inducible nitric oxide synthetase upregulation, and reduces infarction. As caspase-1 and nitric oxide seem to play a role in Huntington disease, we evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of minocycline in the R6/2 mouse model of Huntington disease. We report that minocycline delays disease progression, inhibits caspase-1 and caspase-3 mRNA upregulation, and decreases inducible nitric oxide synthetase activity. In addition, effective pharmacotherapy in R6/2 mice requires caspase-1 and caspase-3 inhibition. This is the first demonstration of caspase-1 and caspase-3 transcriptional regulation in a Huntington disease model.
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