Latest Huntingtin Stories

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have discovered how the mutated huntingtin gene acts on the nervous system to create the devastation of Huntington's disease. The report of their findings is available in Nature Neuroscience online.The researchers were able to show that the mutated huntingtin gene activates a particular enzyme, called JNK3, which is expressed only in neurons and, further, to show what effect activation of that enzyme has on neuron...

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have quantified the probability of a male who carries a "high normal" variant of the Huntington's Disease (HD) gene having a child who develops the disease. Although thought to be a very rare event, the probability has never been estimated using current information and disease guidelines. The findings, appear on-line in the American Journal of Medical Genetics, may be useful during prenatal genetic counseling.Huntington...

Johns Hopkins brain scientists have figured out why a faulty protein accumulates in cells everywhere in the bodies of people with Huntington's disease (HD), but only kills cells in the part of the brain that controls movement, causing negligible damage to tissues elsewhere. The answer, reported this week in Science, lies in one tiny protein called "Rhes" that's found only in the part of the brain that controls movement. The findings, according to the Hopkins scientists, explain the...

Molecules that selectively interfere with protein production can stop human cells from making the abnormal molecules that cause Huntington's disease, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.These man-made molecules also were effective against the abnormal protein that causes Machado-Joseph disease, a neurological condition similar to Huntington's.The work has been done only in cultured cells, and it will take years before the effectiveness of this process can be tested in...

USC researchers uncover clues about cause of Huntington's diseaseResearchers from the University of Southern California have taken an important first step toward protecting against Huntington disease using gene therapy.Huntington Disease is an incurable neurological disorder characterized by uncontrolled movements, emotional instability and loss of intellectual faculties. It affects about 30,000 people in the United States, and children of parents with the disease have a 50 percent chance of...

A new study has identified a potential strategy for removing the abnormal protein that causes Huntington's disease (HD) from brain cells, which could slow the progression of the devastating neurological disorder. In the April 3 issue of Cell, a team of researchers from the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease (MGH-MIND) describes how an alteration to the mutated form of the huntingtin protein appears to accelerate its breakdown and removal through normal cellular...

UC San Diego study in animals may pave way for novel approach to treating Alzheimer's diseaseMemory loss, cognitive impairment, brain cell degeneration and cell death were prevented or reversed in several animal models after treatment with a naturally occurring protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). The study by a University of California, San Diego-led team "“ published in the February 8, 2009 issue of Nature Medicine "“ shows that BDNF treatment can potentially provide...

Scientists around the world may benefit from a powerful new database, available for free online, that will help them to home in on the parts of proteins most necessary for their function.Arend Sidow, PhD, associate professor of pathology and of genetics at the Stanford University School of Medicine, recently launched the novel bioinformatics tool, which enlists evolution as the guide to determining the role different proteins play in a wide array of organisms.ProPhylER, which Sidow has been...

The High Q Foundation Inc. (High Q), a foundation that supports research aimed at finding treatments for Huntington's disease, and Stem Cell Innovations, Inc. (SCI) (OTCBB: SCLL) announced today that they have entered into a two-year R&D alliance. The organizations will apply SCI's PluriCells™ to develop Huntington's disease specific human cell systems for the purpose of drug discovery. Under the terms of their agreement, SCI will receive up to $1.1 million from High Q upon...

Keeping the body and mind healthy depends on keeping cells healthy and functioning. This means that cells need a very robust quality-control system to repair or remove damaged or misshapen proteins. Protein handling is especially important in neurons because damage or death of brain cells causes neurological disease. Researchers in the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine have identified a protein, called CHIP (C-terminal heat shock protein 70-interacting...