Latest Huntington's disease clinical research Stories
A new light-based technique for measuring levels of the toxic protein that causes Huntington's disease (HD) has been used to demonstrate that the protein builds up gradually in blood cells. Published today (17th) in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the findings shed light on how the protein causes damage in the brain, and could be useful for monitoring the progression of HD, or testing new drugs aimed at suppressing production of the harmful protein. HD is a fatal, incurable, genetic...
Connie K. Ho for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online In 1993, the autosomal dominant gene mutation responsible for Huntington’s Disease (HD) was discovered. However, no treatments are known to slow its progression. New research may pave the way to better understanding of the disease. Researchers at Johns Hopkins recently announced that they were able to produce stem cells from skin cells from a person who had severe, early-onset form of HD; the cells were then changed into neurons that...
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Using a human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) from a patient suffering from Huntington’s disease, researchers at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging have corrected the genetic mutation that is responsible for the disease. To accomplish this process, researchers took the diseased iPSCs, made the genetic correction, generated neural stem cells, and then transplanted the mutation-free cells into a mouse model of Huntington’s disease where they are...
(Ivanhoe Newswire) – More than 15,000 Americans have Huntington’s disease, a fatal condition marked by uncontrolled movements and cognitive and psychiatric problems. Currently, there are no available treatments to alter the effects of Huntington’s disease, but a new study brings researchers one step closer to finding one. A new gene-silencing strategy can reverse core symptoms associated with Huntington's disease, according to a preclinical study. The short-term therapy produced...
A new gene-silencing strategy can reverse core symptoms associated with Huntington's disease, according to a preclinical study published by Cell Press in the June 21st issue of the journal Neuron. The short-term therapy produced sustained benefits in both mouse and primate animal models of this neurodegenerative disorder, which currently lacks an effective treatment. "Our approach is feasible for development now into a therapy for Huntington's disease in man," says senior study author Don...
(Ivanhoe Newswire)-- Huntington's disease is a dreaded and debilitating congenital neurological disorder. There are little successful treatments and no cure. But a special type of brain cell forged from stem cells could help restore the muscle coordination deficits that cause the uncontrollable spasms characteristic of the disease. "This is really something unexpected," Su-Chun Zhang, a University of Wisconsin-Madison neuroscientist and the senior author of the new study, was quoted...
New potential therapy that restores motor function being planned for clinical trial Medical researchers at the University of Alberta have discovered a promising new therapy for Huntington disease that restores lost motor skills and may delay or stop the progression of the disease based on lab model tests, says the lead researcher. Because the new therapy uses a molecule already being used in clinical trials for other diseases, it could be used in a clinical trial for Huntington disease...
Huntington disease is a devastating neurogenerative disorder that causes a progressive loss of functional capacity and reduced life span. It is an inherited condition caused by a mutant HTT gene. Although this has been known for many years, the functions of the normal Htt protein and the mechanisms by which the mutant protein generated from the mutant HTT gene causes disease are not well understood. A team of researchers led by Frédéric Saudou, at the Institut Curie, France, has now...
(Ivanhoe Newswire) – Huntington’s disease is a devastating genetic disorder that causes degeneration of nerve cells in the brain. It affects more than 15,000 Americans, and at least 150,000 are at risk of developing the incurable disease. Now, researchers have identified a transcriptional biomarker that may help in the monitoring of disease activity and in the evaluation of new medications. The research, which is a collaboration between the laboratory of Clemens Scherzer, MD, in the...
Huntington's disease (HD) is a cruel, hereditary condition that leads to severe physical and mental deterioration, psychiatric problems and eventually, death. Currently, there are no treatments to slow down or stop it. HD sufferers are born with the disease although they do not show symptoms until late in life. In a new study published in The Journal of Neuroscience, Stephen Ferguson and Fabiola Ribeiro of Robarts Research Institute at The University of Western Ontario identified a protective...
