A Genetic Lottery - a Column by Becky Field

The ability to apply reversal learning, which involves adapting behavior according to changes in stimulus-reward situations, appears to be diminished in patients with Huntington’s disease and to worsen as the disease progresses, according to new research. This study, “Reversal Learning Reveals Cognitive Deficits And Altered Prediction Error Encoding In The Ventral Striatum…

Taking high doses of co-enzyme Q10 in the early stages of Huntington’s disease does not delay its progression, according to a clinical trial. The study, “A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial Of Coenzyme Q10 In Huntington Disease,” was published in the journal Neurology. Huntington’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder stemming…

Researchers may finally have tracked down an explanation for expansions of three-letter DNA sequences that disrupt genes, and lead to Huntington’s disease and numerous other neuromuscular and neurodegenerative conditions. The study, “The role of break-induced replication in large-scale expansions of (CAG)n/(CTG)n repeats,” published in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular…

Huntington’s disease patients’ inability to recognize people’s emotions from their facial expressions appears to be linked to dysfunction in more than one area of the brain, according to a study. The brain areas include “emotion–related regions, such as front-striatal networks and limbic areas, and regions associated with visual processing,” according…

Researchers have developed a new way to deliver therapies to areas of the brain they have been unable to reach due to the blood-brain barrier that protects the brain from microorganisms. The technique may lead to new treatments of neurological disorders, including Huntington’s disease, according to the research. The study,…

Researchers have identified a molecular mechanism in stem cells that may delay the onset of aging-related diseases associated with the production of abnormal proteins, according to a study published in the journal Nature Communications. This finding may help design new therapeutic tools to treat diseases characterized by poorly regulated…

A study using a mouse model suggests that some symptoms of Huntington’s disease are caused by muscle abnormalities, and are not related to dying neurons. The findings may present new opportunities for improving patient care by using muscle-specific drugs. The study, “Progressive Cl− channel defects reveal disrupted…

Researchers have identified a new mechanism of cell death in Huntington’s disease called “ballooning cell death” (BCD), according to new research from Tokyo Medical and Dental University. The study, “Targeting TEAD/YAP-Transcription-Dependent Necrosis, TRIAD, Ameliorates Huntington’s Disease Pathology,” was published in the journal Human Molecular Genetics. Huntington’s…

Huntington’s disease is caused by excessive repeats of a portion of DNA, called CAG triplets, within the gene that codes for huntingtin (HTT). New research shows how the number of CAG repeats determines the final form and the aggregation profile of the resulting protein. The study, “The Aggregation Free Energy…

Gene therapy biotech uniQure is prioritizing its drug pipeline to develop treatments for Huntington’s disease, hemophilia B, and its partnered gene therapy programs associated with uniQure’s collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) in cardiovascular disease. The company will restructure its research and development organization in the Netherlands and consolidate manufacturing in…