Huntington’s Disease News and Research

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Hsp104 protein switches mechanism to break up amyloid versus disordered clumps

Several fatal brain disorders, including Parkinson's disease, are connected by the misfolding of specific proteins into disordered clumps and stable, insoluble fibrils called amyloid. Amyloid fibrils are hard to break up due to their stable, ordered structure. For example, α-synuclein forms amyloid fibrils that accumulate in Lewy Bodies in Parkinson's disease. By contrast, protein clumps that accumulate in response to environmental stress, such as heat shock, possess a less stable, disordered architecture.

20 Nov 2012

Study shows how Parkinson's spreads and leads to nerve cell death

Understanding how any disease progresses is one of the first and most important steps towards finding treatments to stop it. This has been the case for such brain-degenerating conditions as Alzheimer's disease. Now, after several years of incremental study, researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania have been able to piece together important steps in how Parkinson's disease (PD) spreads from cell to cell and leads to nerve cell death.

17 Nov 2012

Feinstein seeks NDA approval for Fluorodopa F 18 PET scan to diagnose parkinsonian syndromes

The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research announced today the submission of a New Drug Application to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the Fluorodopa F 18 positron emission tomography (PET) scan used to diagnose parkinsonian syndromes.

15 Nov 2012

University of Tübingen heads Neuromics consortium

Work has begun on Neuromics, a major project headed by Tübingen's Professor Olaf Riess; the project beat out ten other first-class applications to attain €12m euros in EU funding over five years.

8 Nov 2012

UC Irvine researchers create new stem cell-derived cell type for treatment of Alzheimer's

UC Irvine researchers have created a new stem cell-derived cell type with unique promise for treating neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's.

8 Nov 2012

Imatinib mesylate effectively treats children with neurofibromatosis type 1 tumors

Physician-researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine have reported the first effective therapy for a class of previously untreatable and potentially life-threatening tumors often found in children.

2 Nov 2012

XJB-5-131 compound suppresses symptoms of Huntington's in mice

There's new hope in the fight against Huntington's disease. A group of researchers that includes scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have designed a compound that suppresses symptoms of the devastating disease in mice.

2 Nov 2012

Omeros initiates enrollment in OMS824 Phase 1 trial for schizophrenia and Huntington's

Omeros Corporation today announced that the first subject has been enrolled in the Company's Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating OMS824, the lead compound in Omeros' phosphodiesterase 10 (PDE10) program.

1 Nov 2012

Mass. Eye and Ear opens new outpatient surgical center in Longwood/Mission Hill area of Boston

Massachusetts Eye and Ear, along with the Beal Companies, LLP, today celebrated the grand opening of its new outpatient surgical center at 800 Huntington Avenue in the Longwood/Mission Hill area of Boston. The location will provide access to Mass. Eye and Ear's world-class physicians and surgeons, and outpatient services.

1 Nov 2012

Novel insight into impact that Huntington's disease has on the brain

A study led by researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) provides novel insight into the impact that Huntington's disease has on the brain.

19 Oct 2012

Embryonic neuron transplants could effectively treat brain diseases

The unexpected survival of embryonic neurons transplanted into the brains of newborn mice in a series of experiments at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) raises hope for the possibility of using neuronal transplantation to treat diseases like Alzheimer's, epilepsy, Huntington's, Parkinson's and schizophrenia.

15 Oct 2012

Scientists discover how protein deficiency may be linked to frontotemporal dementia

Using animal models, scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have discovered how a protein deficiency may be linked to frontotemporal dementia (FTD)-a form of early-onset dementia that is similar to Alzheimer's disease. These results lay the foundation for therapies that one day may benefit those who suffer from this and related diseases that wreak havoc on the brain.

9 Oct 2012

Lecture to discuss insights into genes and neurodegenerative diseases gleaned from baker's yeast

Insights into our genes and neurodegenerative diseases gleaned from humble baker's yeast, among other things, will be showcased by genetics experts at a free public lecture.

4 Oct 2012

Teva concludes Asset Transfer Agreement with NeuroSearch

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd announced today that it has concluded an Asset Transfer Agreement with NeuroSearch A/S of Denmark to purchase all rights, assets and obligations relating to Huntexil (pridopidine / ACR16), a drug candidate being developed for the symptomatic treatment of hand movement, balance and gait disturbances in Huntington disease (HD).

28 Sep 2012

Blood test for monitoring Huntington’s disease may be possible in future

Measuring blood levels of mutant huntingtin protein may provide an alternative approach of determining the onset of Huntington’s disease in known carriers, researchers report.

26 Sep 2012

Researchers identify 21 proteins that specifically bind to ataxin-1

Misfolded proteins can cause various neurodegenerative diseases such as spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs) or Huntington's disease, which are characterized by a progressive loss of neurons in the brain. Researchers of the Max Delbr-ck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, Germany, together with their colleagues of the Universit- Paris Diderot, Paris, France, have now identified 21 proteins that specifically bind to a protein called ataxin-1.

19 Sep 2012

New light-based technique demonstrates that toxic proteins build up gradually in blood cells

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.

18 Sep 2012

People with genetic mutation for Huntington's disease learn faster: Study

People who bear the genetic mutation for Huntington's disease learn faster than healthy people. The more pronounced the mutation was, the more quickly they learned. This is reported by researchers from the Ruhr-Universität Bochum and from Dortmund in the journal Current Biology.

15 Sep 2012

Joslin Diabetes Center, Mass. Eye and Ear partner to form clinical and research alliance

Massachusetts Eye and Ear and the Joslin Diabetes Center announced today that they have reached agreement to form a clinical and research alliance, aimed toward providing coordinated high quality care to eye patients throughout greater Boston, especially those with or at-risk for diabetes-related eye disease.

11 Sep 2012

Omeros files OMS824 IND with FDA to initiate clinical trials for cognitive disorders

Omeros Corporation today announced that it has filed an Investigational New Drug Application (IND) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to initiate clinical trials evaluating OMS824, the Company's lead compound from its phosphodiesterase 10 (PDE10) program for schizophrenia and other cognitive disorders.

6 Sep 2012