A Genetic Lottery
— Rebecca Field

UCB and Baylor College of Medicine have announced a strategic research alliance to discover therapies for people with neurodegenerative conditions, such as Huntington’s disease (HD). The research effort will be conducted by Dr. Huda Zoghbi, professor of molecular and human genetics, pediatrics, neurology and neuroscience at Baylor College of…

Researchers have for the first time visualized the structure of the protein α-synuclein in healthy living cells, allowing a better understanding of why the protein forms aggregates in Huntington’s disease (HD) and other neurodegenerative diseases. Despite α-synuclein being a known component of amyloid aggregates forming in the brains of HD, Parkinson’s and…

Two scientists at Cambridge University used differing techniques to better understand how brain cells form connections, research that may inspire new ways of rewiring the brain to repair nerves and treat diseases such as Huntington’s. Professor Christine Holt of the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, focused on how molecules influence neurons…

A research team successfully developed a virus variant that is more efficient than the current standard at crossing the blood-brain barrier and delivering genes to the central nervous system (CNS), making it a promising gene therapy approach to treating neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington’s disease. The blood-brain barrier, made up of specialized…

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center researchers have identified a molecule that might have protective effects against neuronal damage caused by mutant huntingtin, and constitute a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of Huntington’s disease. The study, “Mitochondrial division inhibitor 1 protects against mutant huntingtin-induced abnormal mitochondrial dynamics, synaptic dysfunction…

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) researchers have identified a molecule — mitochondrial division inhibitor 1 (Mdivi1) — believed to hold promise as a potential treatment for Huntington’s disease. Mitochondria are specialized organelles in a cell responsible for creating the energy needed by the body to sustain life. An…

Neuropsychiatric symptoms of depression and irritability or aggression are associated with alterations in the white matter structure of the brains of early-onset Huntington’s disease (HD) patients. These are the results of a recent study titled “Neuropsychiatry and White Matter Microstructure in Huntington’s Disease,” published in the…

A study with a small cohort of Huntington’s disease patients differed from previous research in finding no metabolic alterations associated with disease progression in stage 2/3 patients compared to both premanifest and healthy subjects. The study, titled “A Metabolic Study of Huntington’s Disease,” was published in the PLOS One journal.

Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry researchers have shown that the intracellular location of protein aggregates, long suspected to be involved in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases like Huntington’s, is extremely important to the survival of nerve cells. While location in the nucleus has little influence on cellular function, protein deposits in the…

Using a fruit fly model of Huntington’s disease (HD), researchers found that curcumin – a substance in the spice turmeric– can reduce neuronal death and dysfunction and lead to better motor function in flies. The findings – in the report “Curcumin modulates cell death and is protective in…

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. — formerly Isis Pharmaceuticals — announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its Orphan Drug Designation application for IONIS-HTTRx as a potential treatment of Huntington’s disease (HD). Ionis’ IONIS-HTTRx is a generation 2.0+ antisense drug developed to treat HD by reducing the production of all forms of the huntingtin…

VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company advancing treatments for depression, cancer, and diseases like Huntington’s that involve the central nervous system, announced that it has secured exclusive worldwide commercial rights to three patent-pending stem-cell technologies from the University Health Network (UHN) of Canada. The technologies were discovered and developed at…