Huntington's Disease News and Research

Latest Huntington's Disease News and Research

Clioquinol appears to block the genetic action of Huntington's disease

Clioquinol, an antibiotic that was banned for internal use in the United States in 1971 but is still used in topical applications, appears to block the genetic action of Huntington's disease in mice and in cell culture, according to a study reported by San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC) researchers.

12 Sep 2005

Virginia Tech engineer investigates enzyme link to Huntington's, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer diseases

Several neurologically based afflictions, such as Huntington's, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer diseases, have been correlated to a higher than normal presence of a specific type of enzymes, called transglutaminases (TGase) in the human body.

30 Aug 2005

Gene expression levels may reveal stage of Huntington's disease

A survey of the genome of patients with Huntington's Disease (HD) has identified potential markers of the progression of this devastating neurological disorder.

16 Aug 2005

Method to propagate mouse brain stem cells derived from ES cells

It's hard to grow stem cells in a dish. In particular, while it is possible to multiply mouse embryonic stem cells in culture, propagating stem cells that are specific to distinct tissues (e.g. neural stem cells) has proven to be a challenge.

16 Aug 2005

Key toxin could provide for world's first treatment for Alzheimer's

Dr Karen Cullen at Sydney University’s Institute for Biomedical Research is part of a collaborative team which has identified a key component in the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, a finding which may produce the world’s first effective treatment to combat the debilitating effects of the disease.

15 Aug 2005

Pig brain cell transplant looks hopeful for treating Huntington's disease

According to researchers at Australian bioscience company Living Cell Technologies (LCT), if approved, pig brain cells wrapped in a seaweed derivative could be implanted into human brains by sometime next year to treat Huntington's disease.

11 Aug 2005

Australian researchers have found a toxin that plays an important role in the progression of Alzheimer's disease

The research, which is led by two University of New South Wales academics, is significant because drugs that are in the advanced developmental phase for other conditions might be able to be used on Alzheimer's patients, to halt the disease progressing.

4 Aug 2005

Living Cell Technologies announces results for treating Huntington's disease

Living Cell Technologies announced pre-clinical results today showing its brain protection product, NeurotrophinCell (NtCell) produces a marked reduction in the size of brain lesions in a Huntington's disease (HD) model.

2 Aug 2005

Researchers modify software to predict gene transcription

A modification to an "ace" gene prediction program by computer scientists at Washington University in St. Louis now enables scientists to predict the very beginnings of gene transcription start sites and where the first splice occurs thereby defining the first exon of the gene.

13 Jul 2005

Possible cure for Huntington's disease

Boosting levels of two critical proteins that normally shut down during Huntington's disease, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have cured fruit flies of the genetic, neurodegenerative condition.

12 Jul 2005

Sirna Therapeutics granted new UK patents

Sirna Therapeutics has announced that the United Kingdom (UK) Patent Office has granted the Company two additional short interfering RNA (siRNA) target patents. The first patent covers any siRNA with one or more chemical modifications targeting Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF).

12 Jul 2005

New understanding of degeneration of brain cells in patients with Alzheimer's, Huntington's, and Parkinson's diseases

A ground-breaking new research approach to understanding the cellular processes of Alzheimer's and other degenerative diseases has revealed a promising pathway to the development of new types of drugs for these diseases.

11 Jul 2005

Researchers have discovered a key regulatory molecule for Huntington's disease

Researchers have discovered a key regulatory molecule whose overactivation by the abnormal protein produced in Huntington's disease (HD) causes the central pathologies of the disease.

6 Jul 2005

New clue to the causes of neurodegenerative diseases

Scientists funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC), the Wellcome Trust, BBSRC - the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the EU have made an important discovery about the mechanisms underlying degenerative brain diseases.

26 Jun 2005

Researchers discover mechanism that causes a protein to clump together in brain cells of people with Parkinson's disease

The protein clumping is part of a "vicious cycle," the researchers said. As the proteins cluster, they inhibit an enzyme that normally breaks them down, leading to the formation of even more masses.

21 Jun 2005

Researchers isolate substance most responsible for the tissue damage that follows initial spinal cord injury

Purdue University researchers may have isolated the substance most responsible for the tissue damage that follows initial spinal cord injury, a discovery that could also improve treatments for a host of other neurodegenerative conditions.

21 Jun 2005

US scientists find "mother of all brain stem cells"

Scientists at the University of Florida have been able grow brain cells in the laboratory.

14 Jun 2005

Scientists create new brain cells - in a dish

Regenerative medicine scientists at the University of Florida's McKnight Brain Institute have created a system in rodent models that for the first time duplicates neurogenesis - the process of generating new brain cells - in a dish.

13 Jun 2005

Study reveals new approach to Huntington's disease

Scientific theory holds that Huntington's disease (HD) is caused by a mutant protein that arises within brain cells and kills them, triggering the genetic neurological disorder. Now a new UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute study reveals the first strong evidence that the mutant protein also elicits toxic interactions from neighboring cells to provoke the fatal brain disorder. The May 5 edition of Neuron reports the findings.

4 May 2005

Food fried in vegetable oil contains a highly toxic compound - HNE (4-hydroxy-trans-2-nonenal)

University of Minnesota researchers A. Saari Csallany, a professor of food chemistry and nutritional biochemistry, and graduate student Christine Seppanen have shown that when highly unsaturated vegetable oils are heated at frying temperature (365 F) for extended periods--or even for half an hour--a highly toxic compound, HNE (4-hydroxy-trans-2-nonenal) forms in the oil.

2 May 2005