News

New research out of London has identified specific, highly connected brain regions, known as “rich club brain regions” that may be vulnerable in Huntington’s disease and possibly in other diseases in which there is progressive deterioration of brain cells (neurodegenerative diseases). The article, titled “Selective vulnerability of Rich…

In a new study entitled “Spatial mapping of juxtacrine axo-glial interactions identifies novel molecules in peripheral myelination” a team of scientists reports a new method for capturing and understanding the molecular mechanisms behind brain cellular interactions, a key event for a healthy and fully functional brain which may…

Bioinformatics, a field that enables powerful analysis of large amounts of data, is being applied to Huntington’s disease to find potential candidate molecules that play a role in pathogenesis. Researchers have conducted high throughput screens of genetic information, and this information is now being deciphered by different computer programs to…

Sangamo BioSciences, Inc., a leader in therapeutic genome editing, recently announced it has agreed to amend its January 2012 collaboration and licensing agreement with Shire to accelerate the development of ZFP Therapeutics geared towards treated hemophilia A and B and Huntington’s disease. This agreement follows the companies’ mutual decision to refocus their research…

Germany and UK-based researchers have found that a surgical implantation procedure known as pallidal deep brain stimulation was safe when placed into the brain for the reduction of movement problems in Huntington’s disease. The study could allow for more research examining the effectiveness of the technique in larger groups of people with the condition.

In a new study entitled “Delayed identification and diagnosis of Huntington’s disease due to psychiatric symptoms” researchers present a case study of a female patient with 58 years old diagnosed with Huntington’s disease as a consequence of psychiatric symptoms prior to motor symptoms. The study was published in the International…

Evotec AG announced the CHDI Foundation, Inc. has agreed to extend and expand its partnership with the company until August 2018. The extension stipulates CHDI’s funding of 55 full-time scientists at Evotec in support of research efforts for Huntington’s Disease. The collaboration will utilize additional resources at Evotec’s facilities in Toulouse,…

Tapping into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with Huntington’s disease may give insights on disease onset, diminished functional ability and potential therapeutic agents for treatment. A recent study investigated whether huntingtin (HTT) protein could be detected in CSF, and the research team behind the investigation created an assay with…

In a recent study published in Cell Reports entitled “BDNF Reduces Toxic Extrasynaptic NMDA Receptor Signaling via Synaptic NMDA Receptors and Nuclear Calcium-induced Transcription of inhba/Activin A“, published in Cell Reports, researchers from Heidelberg University’s Interdisciplinary Center for Neurosciences found that activated neurons produce…

Could patients with Huntington’s disease (HD) who are of European ancestry be related by a distant individual? Perhaps, according to a study from the Center for Human Genetic Research at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Researchers led by Dr. Jong-Min Lee and Dr. James F. Gusella conducted an investigation into…