Huntington’s Disease News and Research

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Dartmouth researchers perform first total syntheses of compounds involved in rapid cell death in leukemia

Dartmouth researchers and their colleagues have carried out the first total syntheses of certain compounds involved in excessive cell death in leukemia.

22 Jul 2015

Research shows how prion-like proteins critical for maintaining long-term memories

Research from Eric Kandel's lab at Columbia University Medical Center has uncovered further evidence of a system in the brain that persistently maintains memories for long periods of time. And paradoxically, it works in the same way as mechanisms that cause mad cow disease, kuru, and other degenerative brain diseases.

3 Jul 2015

ASHG declares 2015 recipients of annual Award for Excellence in Human Genetics Education

The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) has named Robert L. Nussbaum, M.D., chief medical officer of invitae and clinical professor of medicine (volunteer) at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF); Roderick R. McInnes, CM, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Lady Davis Institute at the Jewish General Hospital and Alva chair in human genetics, Canada Research chair in neurogenetics, and professor of human genetics and biochemistry at McGill University; and Huntington F. Willard, Ph.D., president and director of the Marine Biological Laboratory and professor of human genetics at the University of Chicago; as the 2015 recipients of its annual Award for Excellence in Human Genetics Education.

1 Jul 2015

TSRI scientists find five different miRNAs involved in memory formation

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found that a type of genetic material called “microRNA” plays surprisingly different roles in the formation of memory in animal models. In some cases, these RNAs increase memory, while others decrease it.

30 Jun 2015

Imperial College London researchers discover new inherited form of obesity, type 2 diabetes

Scientists have discovered a new inherited form of obesity and type 2 diabetes in humans. A large number of genes are involved in regulating body weight, and there are now over 30 genes known in which people with harmful changes in DNA sequence become extremely overweight. Similarly, there are a number of genes that can, when altered, cause type 2 diabetes. These conditions are inherited through families in exactly the same way as disorders such as cystic fibrosis or Huntington's disease.

30 Jun 2015

New Internet tool may help analyze genes based on their evolutionary profile

Two major revolutions, one genomic and one in informatics, are completely changing the face of biomedical research. Every day all over the world, millions of genetic sequences -- from disease-related genes to complete genomes of plants, animals, bacteria and viruses -- are resolved, identified and dissected.

26 Jun 2015

Discovery may accelerate development of new drugs to treat Huntington's disease

By identifying in spinal fluid how the characteristic mutant proteins of Huntington's disease spread from cell to cell, UC Irvine scientists and colleagues have created a new method to quickly and accurately track the presence and proliferation of these neuron-damaging compounds -- a discovery that may accelerate the development of new drugs to treat this incurable disease.

24 Jun 2015

Ruhr-Universität Bochum scientists develop mouse model to investigate SCA6

Scientists at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum established a mouse model for the human disease SCA6. SCA6 is characterised by movement deficits and caused by similar genetic alterations as Chorea Huntington. The mouse model will be used to investigate the disease mechanisms.

17 Jun 2015

TSRI study confirms role of Rhes protein in Huntington's disease

Huntington's disease attacks the part of the brain that controls movement, destroying nerves with a barrage of toxicity, yet leaves other parts relatively unscathed.

17 Jun 2015

TSRI scientists awarded $2.1 million grant to study protein closely linked to Parkinson's disease

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have been awarded $2.1 million from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of The National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study a protein that has been closely linked in animal models to Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease.

10 Jun 2015

Immune system linked to death of motor neurons in Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

A previously unknown link between the immune system and the death of motor neurons in Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, has been discovered by scientists at the CHUM Research Centre and the University of Montreal. The finding paves the way to a whole new approach for finding a drug that can cure or at least slow the progression of such neurodegenerative diseases as ALS, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases.

10 Jun 2015

CURE Urgent Care, Mount Sinai Health System expand partnership

CURE Urgent Care, a premier concierge medical practice providing immediate treatment for illness and injuries, is pleased to announce a joint venture with Mount Sinai Health System that further supports the existing relationship between the two entities.

8 Jun 2015

Penn researchers to present clinical data at 2015 ASCO Annual Meeting

Researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn's Perelman School of Medicine will present results from several clinical trials and other key studies during the 2015 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting from May 29 through June 2.

30 May 2015

People with cognitive impairment have altered responses to pain

People with dementia and other forms of cognitive impairment (CI) have altered responses to pain, with many conditions associated with increased pain sensitivity, concludes a research review in PAIN, the official publication of the International Association for the Study of Pain.

29 May 2015

UC San Diego Health System designated as Center of Excellence for Huntington's disease

The Huntington's Disease Clinical Research Center at UC San Diego Health System has been designated a Center of Excellence by the Huntington's Disease Society of America. UC San Diego was one of only 29 centers nationwide to receive this prestigious designation, which recognizes centers for their elite multidisciplinary approach to Huntington's disease care and research.

27 May 2015

Study finds similarity in clinical progression between human patients and Huntington's disease monkeys

Transgenic Huntington's disease monkeys show similarity to humans with Huntington's in their progressive neurodegeneration and decline of motor control, scientists from Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, report.

14 May 2015

Researchers identify gene variant that affects onset of Huntington's disease

Researchers at Sweden's Karolinska Institutet and the University of British Columbia, Canada, have identified a gene variant that influences whether Huntington's disease breaks out earlier or later than expected. The findings, which are published in the scientific journal Nature Neuroscience, can contribute to improved diagnosis and disease-modifying therapies.

5 May 2015

New understanding of how Huntington's disease gene works

Huntington's disease is caused by a mutation in the Huntington's disease gene, but it has long been a mystery why some people with the exact same mutation get the disease more severely and earlier than others. A closer look at the DNA around the Huntington's disease (HD) gene offers researchers a new understanding of how the gene is controlled and how this affects the disease.

5 May 2015

Neurocrine reports net loss of $1.2 million for first quarter 2015

Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. today announced its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2015. For the first quarter of 2015, the Company reported a net loss of $1.2 million, or $0.01 loss per share, compared to a net loss of $11.8 million, or $0.17 loss per share, for the same period in 2014.

30 Apr 2015

Link between dDsk2 protein and neurodegenerative diseases identified

Until today, the proteins known as ubiquitin receptors have been associated mainly with protein degradation, a basic cell cleaning process. A new function now described for the protein dDsk2 by the team headed by Ferran Azorín, group leader at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) and CSIC research professor, links ubiquitin receptors for the first time with the regulation of gene expression.

29 Apr 2015