A Liquid to Solid Phase Transition Underlying Pathological Huntingtin Exon1 Aggregation (Molecular Cell)

In Huntington`s disease, a polyglutamine expanded exon1 fragment of the huntingtin protein forms aggregates in the brains of affected individuals. Peskett et al. show that this protein fragment can form reversible liquid-like assemblies, which convert into solid-like fibrillar assemblies when the polyglutamine tract reaches disease-associated lengths.