%0 Journal Article
%A Stahl, Fabian
%A Schmitt, Ina
%A Denner, Philip
%A de Boni, Laura
%A Wüllner, Ullrich
%A Breuer, Peter
%T High throughput compound screening in neuronal cells identifies statins as activators of ataxin 3 expression.
%J Scientific reports
%V 13
%N 1
%@ 2045-2322
%C [London]
%I Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature
%M DZNE-2023-00893
%P 14911
%D 2023
%X The spinocerebellar ataxias (SCA) comprise a group of inherited neurodegenerative diseases. SCA3 is the most common form, caused by the expansion of CAG repeats within the ataxin 3 (ATXN3) gene. The mutation results in the expression of an abnormal protein, containing long polyglutamine (polyQ) stretches. The polyQ stretch confers a toxic gain of function and leads to misfolding and aggregation of ATXN3 in neurons. Thus, modulators of ATXN3 expression could potentially ameliorate the pathology in SCA3 patients. Therefore, we generated a CRISPR/Cas9 modified ATXN3-Exon4-Luciferase (ATXN3-LUC) genomic fusion- and control cell lines to perform a reporter cell line-based high-throughput screen comprising 2640 bioactive compounds, including the FDA approved drugs. We found no unequivocal inhibitors of, but identified statins as activators of the LUC signal in the ATXN3-LUC screening cell line. We further confirmed that Simvastatin treatment of wild type SK-N-SH cells increases ATXN3 mRNA and protein levels which likely results from direct binding of the activated sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 (SREBP1) to the ATXN3 promotor. Finally, we observed an increase of normal and expanded ATXN3 protein levels in a patient-derived cell line upon Simvastatin treatment, underscoring the potential medical relevance of our findings.
%K Humans
%K Ataxin-3: genetics
%K Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors: pharmacology
%K Neurons
%K Simvastatin
%K Spinocerebellar Ataxias
%K Ataxin-3 (NLM Chemicals)
%K Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors (NLM Chemicals)
%K Simvastatin (NLM Chemicals)
%F PUB:(DE-HGF)16
%9 Journal Article
%2 pmc:PMC10492798
%$ pmid:37689718
%R 10.1038/s41598-023-41192-4
%U https://pub.dzne.de/record/263808