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Polyglutamine Tract

Meaning

A Polyglutamine Tract is a specific, repetitive sequence of three DNA bases, cytosine-adenine-guanine (CAG), that codes for a string of multiple glutamine amino acids within a protein. These tracts are found in several genes, and a pathological expansion, meaning an abnormal increase in the number of CAG repeats, leads to the formation of unstable proteins. This genetic abnormality is clinically relevant as it is the causative mechanism for a group of inherited neurodegenerative disorders, often referred to as polyglutamine diseases, which can indirectly affect neuro-endocrine function.