Rinsho Shinkeigaku (Clinical Neurology)

The 51st Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Neurology

SCA6: From gene identification to recent progress on pathogenesis

Kei Watase, M.D.1), Kinya Ishikawa, M.D.2) and Hidehiro Mizusawa, M.D.1)2)

1)Center for Brain Integration Research, Tokyo Medical and Dental University
2)Department of Neurology and Neurological Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 (SCA6) is one of the common dominantly inherited ataxias in Japan, featuring late-onset ataxia and selective Purkinje cell (PC) degeneration. Molecular pathogenesis of SCA6 has been attracting considerable attention since it is caused by small CAG repeat expansions within the Cav2.1 voltage-gated Ca++ channel gene (CACNA1A). During the past 9 years, efforts have been made to generate and analyze a precise SCA 6 model in order to disclose its molecular pathogenesis in vivo. Evidence indicates that the SCA6 mutation does not directly change the basic properties of the channel but rather exerts neurotoxicity through a mechanism associated with age-dependent accumulation of the expanded polyglutamine protein. We envisage further analysis on a knockin model developing PC degeneration at their young age will lead to elucidation of the molecular pathways involved in SCA6 and thus be useful for developing therapeutic strategies against the disease.
Full Text of this Article in Japanese PDF (254K)

(CLINICA NEUROL, 50: 858|860, 2010)
key words: SCA6, Polyglutamine disease, Purkinje cell, knock-in mouse, Cav2.1 channel

(Received: 21-May-10)