Kinetin mediated mutant huntingtin phosphorylation restores multiple dysregulated pathways in a cell line model of Huntington’s disease

Huntington's disease (HD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease caused by CAG trinucleotide repeat expansion in the huntingtin gene (Htt) resulting in an expanded polyglutamine (polyQ) tract in the huntingtin (HTT) protein. The expanded polyQ alters structure of HTT making it susceptible to aggregation. The expression of mutant HTT (mHTT) causes dysregulation of several key cellular pathways in neuronal cells resulting in neurodegeneration. Recent studies have demonstrated phosphorylation of the N-terminal domain of the huntingtin (N-HTT) protein as an important regulator of its localization, structure, aggregation, clearance and toxicity. Most studies have focused on the effect of phosphorylation of Ser13 and Ser16 in N-HTT on protein aggregation and reported a drastic reduction in aggregation. However, the downstream impact of this phosphorylation status on key cellular pathways is largely unexplored. Utilizing an inducible cell line model for expression of Exon 1 fragment of mHTT bearing 150 polyglutamine repeats (HD150Q), we demonstrate that kinetin induced phosphorylation at Ser13 and Ser16 of N-HTT resulted in prevention of aggregation as well as resolution of preformed aggregates. Furthermore, kinetin treatment led to rescue of ATP levels and transcription of key genes as well as significant reduction in mitochondrial ROS levels restoring mitochondrial function. Notably, ER stress markers were significantly reduced at transcriptional, translational and post-translational levels. Restoration of mitochondrial function and mitigation of ER stress lead to significant improvement in cell survival. These findings further strengthen the view that HTT N-terminal phosphorylation is a promising therapeutic target for HD.