Identification of genes that modify ataxin-1-induced neurodegeneration

A growing number of human neurodegenerative diseases result from the expansion of a glutamine repeat in the protein that causes the disease. Spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1) is one such disease-caused by expansion of a polyglutamine tract in the protein ataxin-1. To elucidate the genetic pathways and molecular mechanisms underlying neuronal degeneration in this group of diseases, we have created a model system for SCA1 by expressing the...