Recent Trends in Detection of Huntingtin and Preclinical Models of Huntington's Disease

Huntington's disease is a genetically inherited neurodegenerative disease that is characterized by neuronal cell death in the brain. Molecular biology techniques to detect and quantify huntingtin protein in biological samples involve fluorescence imaging, western blotting, and PCR. Modified cell lines are widely used as models for Huntington's disease for preclinical screening of drugs to study their ability to suppress the expression of huntingtin. Although worm and fly species have been experimented on as models for Huntington's disease, the most successful animal models have been reported to be primates. This review critically analyses the molecular biology techniques for detection and quantitation of huntingtin and evaluates the various animal species for use as models for Huntington's disease.