In work published in the August 1997 issue of the journal Cell, similar intranuclear inclusions were shown in the nerve cells of transgenic mice carrying the HD mutation. Protein made by the normal gene does not do this. Thus, it appears as if the protein made by the abnormal allele is handled in a different way in nerve cells that are destined to die. It also seems likely that fragments of the protein containing the extra glutamines may be more dangerous to the cells than the entire protein itself. Such truncated protein fragments may be clumping up into little balls within the nuclei of cells.
Many questions remain unanswered.
Hopefully, answers will become available soon.