RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Aberrant Rab11-Dependent Trafficking of the Neuronal Glutamate Transporter EAAC1 Causes Oxidative Stress and Cell Death in Huntington's Disease JF The Journal of Neuroscience JO J. Neurosci. FD Society for Neuroscience SP 4552 OP 4561 DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5865-09.2010 VO 30 IS 13 A1 Xueyi Li A1 Antonio Valencia A1 Ellen Sapp A1 Nicholas Masso A1 Jonathan Alexander A1 Patrick Reeves A1 Kimberly B. Kegel A1 Neil Aronin A1 Marian DiFiglia YR 2010 UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/30/13/4552.abstract AB Oxidative stress contributes to neurodegeneration in Huntington's disease (HD). However, the origins of oxidative stress in HD remain unclear. Studies in HD transgenic models suggest involvement of mitochondrial dysfunction, which would lead to overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Impaired mitochondria complexes occur in late stages of HD but not in presymptomatic or early-stage HD patients. Thus, other mechanisms may account for the earliest source of oxidative stress caused by endogenous mutant huntingtin. Here, we report that decreased levels of a major intracellular antioxidant glutathione coincide with accumulation of ROS in primary HD neurons prepared from embryos of HD knock-in mice (HD140Q/140Q), which have human huntingtin exon 1 with 140 CAG repeats inserted into the endogenous mouse huntingtin gene. Uptake of extracellular cysteine through the glutamate/cysteine transporter EAAC1 is required for de novo synthesis of glutathione in neurons. We found that, compared with wild-type neurons, HD neurons had lower cell surface levels of EAAC1 and were deficient in taking up cysteine. Constitutive trafficking of EAAC1 from recycling endosomes relies on Rab11 activity, which is defective in the brain of HD140Q/140Q mice. Enhancement of Rab11 activity by expression of a dominant-active Rab11 mutant in primary HD neurons ameliorated the deficit in cysteine uptake, increased levels of intracellular glutathione, normalized clearance of ROS, and improved neuronal survival. Our data support a novel mechanism for oxidative stress in HD: Rab11 dysfunction slows trafficking of EAAC1 to the cell surface and impairs cysteine uptake, thereby leading to deficient synthesis of glutathione.