Huntingtin

Huntingtin, is the protein coded for by the HTT gene, also known as the IT15 gene. Mutated HTT is the cause of Huntington's disease, and has been investigated for this role and also for its involvement in long-term memory storage. It is variable in its structure, as the many polymorphisms of the gene can lead to variable numbers of glutamine residues present in the protein. In its wild-type, it contains 6-35 glutamine residues. However, in individuals affected by Huntington's disease, it contains more than 36 glutamine residues. Its commonly used name is derived from this disease; previously, the IT15 label was commonly used. The mass of huntingtin protein is dependent largely on the number of glutamine residues it has, the predicted mass is around 350 kDa. Normal huntingtin is generally accepted to be 3144 amino acids in size. The exact function of this protein is not known, but it plays an important role in nerve cells.

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