Structure, expression and regulation of the cannabinoid receptor gene (CB1) in Huntington’s disease transgenic mice

Loss of cannabinoid receptors (CB1) occurs prior to neurodegeneration in Huntington’s disease (HD). The levels and distribution of CB1 RNA were equivalent in 3-week-old mice regardless of genotype demonstrating that the specific factors and appropriate chromatin structure that lead to the transcription of CB1 were present in the striatum of young R6/2 and R6/1 transgenic HD mice. The expression of the mutant HD transgene led progressively to decreased steadystate levels of CB1 mRNA in neurons of the lateral striatum, which was dependent on the size of the CAG repeat and relative expression of the gene encoding mutant huntingtin (HD). Although it is known that...