HAP40 orchestrates huntingtin structure for differential interaction with polyglutamine expanded exon 1

Huntingtons disease results from expansion of a glutamine-coding CAG tract in the huntingtin (HTT) gene, producing an aberrantly functioning form of HTT. Both wildtype and disease-state HTT form a hetero-dimer with HAP40 of unknown functional relevance. We demonstrate in vivo that HTT and HAP40 cellular abundance are coupled. Integrating data from a 2.6 [A] cryo-electron microscopy structure, cross-linking mass spectrometry, small-angle X-ray scattering, and modeling, we provide a near-atomic-level view of HTT, its molecular interaction surfaces and compacted domain architecture, orchestrated by HAP40. Native mass-spectrometry reveals a remarkably stable hetero-dimer, potentially explaining the cellular inter-dependence of HTT and HAP40. The polyglutamine tract containing N-terminal exon 1 region of HTT is dynamic, but shows greater conformational variety in the mutant than wildtype exon 1. By providing novel insight into the structural consequences of HTT polyglutamine expansion, our data provide a foundation for future functional and drug discovery studies targeting Huntingtons disease.